There are 14 to 20 (16.2) femoral pores. Eight adult males
have snout-vent lengths from 49 to 61 (58.0) mm. and tail lengths from
57 to 74 (66.0) mm.; four adult females have snout-vent lengths from 52
to 57 (55.2) mm. and tail lengths from 60 to 66 (63.5) mm. The smallest
of eight juveniles has a snout-vent length of 28 mm. and a tail length
of 32 mm. The dorsum in adults is pale grayish brown; there are three
irregular chevron-shaped dark marks and a triangular dark brown mark
above the insertion of the hind limbs; on the tail are dark brown rings.
There are scattered faint blue flecks on the flanks and narrow
transverse dark lines on the lower limbs. Males have pale bluish green
belly patches and an orange-salmon-colored throat; the belly in females
is pale orange-tan. The juveniles have a more contrasting color pattern;
the dark chevrons on the dorsum are bordered posteriorly by pale gray.

In Michoacan this species has been obtained in pine and pine-fir forests
from 1800 to 2700 meters. On Cerro Barolosa and at Dos Aguas, both in
the Sierra de Coalcoman, the lizards were found beneath the bark of
dead, standing pines. In the Sierra de Coalcoman _Sceloporus
heterolepis_ seems to fill the niche of the small arboreal _Sceloporus_
in the coniferous forest in southwestern Mexico, a position held by _S.
grammicus microlepidotus_ in the Cordillera Volcanica; the latter
species does not occur in the Sierra de Coalcoman. Five specimens of
_Sceloporus heterolepis_ are known from the Cordillera Volcanica,
whereas 603 of _S. grammicus microlepidotus_ have been collected there.
The ecological relationships that exist between the two species in the
Cordillera Volcanica are not known.

Insofar as is known, _Sceloporus heterolepis_ reaches the southern
limits of its range in the Sierra de Coalcoman and in the western part
of the Cordillera Volcanica. Other records for the species are from the
Sierra Madre Occidental in Jalisco. Langebartel (1959) described
_Sceloporus shannonorum_ from the mountains near the Durango-Sinaloa
border; the single specimen of _S. shannonorum_ differs significantly
from _S. heterolepis_ only in having fewer dorsal scales (48). The
acquisition of additional material, especially from Nayarit and northern
Jalisco, probably will provide a basis for showing that these two
populations are conspecific.

~Sceloporus horridus oligoporus~ Cope

_Sceloporus oligoporus_ Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.