The territorial behavior of the western fence lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis

In this study, we investigated the territorial behavior of Sceloporus occidentalis by focusing on three questions: do individuals of S. occidentalis (1) exhibit site-fidelity, (2) defend the site with aggressive behavior, and (3) maintain exclusive use of the defended area? Spatial distributions and aggressive behavior were studied in two natural populations. We also used a small arena to observe aggressive behavior in paired interactions. Repeatability analysis revealed that individuals of S. occidentalis maintain home ranges of similar areas and in similar locations across years. While lizards use pushup displays to delimit territories that are approximately 61% of total home range area, overt aggression (e.g., chases, bites) was infrequent. Furthermore, lizards maintained exclusive use of only a small proportion of their defended areas. We discuss our results in the context of what it means to be "territorial".