Table 5.—Comparison of the Ten Species and Subspecies of Cnemidophorus in Michoacán (Scale Counts Are for Specimens from Michoacán Only)
| Species | Dorsal granules | Femoral pores | Adult color pattern | Throat color | Maximum snout-vent length |
| calidipes | 66-86 (75) | 31-47 (39) | Light brown dorsum with vertical blue bars and spots | Pink | 79 mm. |
| communis communis | 105-146 (124) | 38-52 | Green dorsum with six rows of yellow spots | Pink | 135 mm. |
| costatus occidentalis | 97-102 (99) | 37-43 (39) | Cross-bars anteriorly and pale spots posteriorly | Pink | 126 mm. |
| costatus zweifeli | 91-117 (106) | 32-49 (41) | Lateral and dorsolateral rows of spots; paravertebrals fused with pale green middorsum | Pink with blue spot | 132 mm. |
| deppei deppei | 116-117 (116) | 37-38 (37) | Green paravertebral and dorsolateral stripes; lateral stripe broken into row of bluish spots | Black | 93 mm. |
| deppei infernalis | 91-120 (101) | 31-43 (36) | Green paravertebral and dorsolateral stripes; broad cream lateral stripe; reddish flanks | Black | 84 mm. |
| lineatissimus exoristus | 108-140 (122) | 32-47 (39) | Paravertebral stripes fused with yellow middorsal stripe; vertical bars on flanks | Pink and black | 98 mm. |
| lineatissimus lineatissimus | 117-126 (121) | 32-37 (35) | Eight distinct stripes plus partially fused vertebrals | Bluish-pink and black | 96 mm. |
| lineatissimus lividus | 126-164 (148) | 32-48 (38) | Broad middorsal stripe; paravertebrals distinct; blue lateral spots | Pink and black | 106 mm. |
| scalaris | 80-92 (86) | 32-41 (35) | Six distinct cream stripes; tan spots in dark fields | Orange-pink | 95 mm. |
Although this is the largest species of Cnemidophorus in Michoacán (adult males attain a snout-vent length of 135 mm.), it is neither widespread nor abundant. On the coastal lowlands it occurs primarily with Cnemidophorus lineatissimus lividus. In the coastal lowlands there is little open scrub forest, a type of habitat that seems to be preferred by C. communis communis. In the Tepalcatepec Valley, C. communis communis occurs in the open scrub forest with the more abundant large species C. costatus (subspecies zweifeli). Only in the scrub forest in the Coalcomán Valley, where no other species of Cnemidophorus occurs, is C. communis communis abundant.
Cnemidophorus costatus occidentalis Gadow
Cnemidophorus communis occidentalis Gadow, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1906, 1:339, August 23, 1906.—Type locality restricted to Ixtlán, Nayarit, México, by Smith and Taylor (1950b:182).
Cnemidophorus costatus occidentalis, Zweifel, Copeia, No. 1:98; March 17, 1961.
Jiquilpan (4).
Only four specimens from the extreme northwestern part of the state are referable to this subspecies. These have 97 to 102 dorsal granules at midbody and lack the blue gular band or spot characteristic of the subspecies in the Tepalcatepec Valley. Probably C. costatus occidentalis ranges throughout the Chapala depression, but to the east it is replaced by Cnemidophorus scalaris scalaris.
Cnemidophorus costatus zweifeli Duellman