Although this species has a rather extensive range in the Balsas-Tepalcatepec Basin in the state of Michoacán, Guerrero, Morelos, and Puebla, it is only locally abundant in that area. Usually these lizards are found on rocky cliffs in which there are many crevices for cover. Sceloporus gadowae is abundant on a conglomerate cliff along the Río Marquez south of Lombardia. Although the closely related S. pyrocephalus is abundant in the stream valley and in the hills above the cliff, S. gadowae has been found only on the cliff; few individuals of S. pyrocephalus have been observed on the cliff. A similar situation was discovered on a much more extensive conglomerate cliff along the Río Balsas near Mexcala, Guerrero. Near Tehuitzingo, Puebla, where S. pyrocephalus was not found, S. gadowae was found on conglomerate cliffs. Probably there is strong competition between the two species; possibly this has resulted in the restriction of S. gadowae to isolated cliff-habitats within the extensive range of the more widespread S. pyrocephalus.
In Michoacán Sceloporus gadowae has been found along the lower slopes of the Cordillera Volcánica at elevations from 250 to 1050 meters. All of the localities from which this lizard is known lie in the arid tropical scrub forest.
Sceloporus grammicus microlepidotus Wiegmann
Sceloporus microlepidotus Wiegmann, Herpetologia Mexicana, p. 51, 1834.—México. Type locality restricted to México, Distrito Federal, by Smith and Taylor (1950b:120).
Sceloporus grammicus microlepidotus, Smith and Laufe, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 48:332, December, 1945.
Angahuari; Apo (10); Atzimba (3); Carapan (5); Cerro San Andrés (17); Cerro Tancítaro (18); Corupu; Cuseño Station (2); Jacona; Jeráhuaro (10); Macho de Agua; Mil Cumbres; 46 km. E of Morelia; 60 km. E of Morelia (2); Opopeo (14); Pátzcuaro (30); Puerto Hondo (19); San Gregorio (41); San José de la Cumbre (8); Sierra Patamba; Tancítaro (233); Tupátaro; Undameo; Uruapan (180); between Zacapu and Zamora; 24 km. SE of Zitácuaro; between Zurumbeneo and Cerro Garnica.
This small species of Sceloporus is an ubiquitous inhabitant of the coniferous forests from 1550 to 3100 meters in the Cordillera Volcánica. Usually it is seen on tree trunks, but occasionally on the ground. Near the lower limit of the altitudinal distribution of the species, as at Uruapan, individuals sometimes are found on broad-leafed trees. Apparently Sceloporus heterolepis replaces S. grammicus microlepidotus in the Sierra de Coalcomán.
Sceloporus heterolepis Boulenger
Sceloporus heterolepis Boulenger, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1894:731, April, 1895.—La Cumbre de los Arrastrados, Jalisco, México.
Araparicuaro; Cerro Barolosa (6); Dos Aguas (13); Los Conejos; 11 km. N of Uruapan (3).