Pen in Hand: The lizards among us: Tehachapi Mountains home to an assortment of reptiles.

There are currently 67 recognized species or subspecies of lizards in California. Of these, at least 11 have been seen in our mountains. The Tehachapis are an area of considerable taxonomic mixing of both plants and animals, where different species from the Great Basin Desert, Sierra Nevada, Mojave Desert and San Joaquin Valley can often be found.