oil barons hate this one cute lizard

oil barons hate this one cute lizard<br>August 12, 2026

imagine making a species go extinct for *checks notes* the profits. source.

The dunes sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) is a small species in the family Phrynosomatidae, the same family as spiny lizard, fence lizards, and horned lizards. It was first described in 1960 in New Mexico and Texas, and was first considered a subspecies of the sagebrush lizard, then later elevated to its own species in 1992 with supporting molecular evidence (meaning it was genetically different enough to be classified its own species).

It has a really restricted distribution in east New Mexico and West Texas and uses sand dunes as its habitat. Interestingly it uses these micro-regions in the dunes called 'blowouts', which are bowl-shaped areas in the sand, like small craters. They also make use of an oak species that also colonizes the dunes.

Unfortunately, this specific dune habitat greatly overlaps with oil industry activities, so as you can imagine, things are not good for the dunes sagebrush lizard.

It was petitioned for endangered listing in 2002, but the Fish and Wildlife Service didn't propose adding it until 2010. After more delays, it was finally listed as endangered in 2024.<br>In the same year, a report was given that cited "future energy development, sand mining, and climate change" as the largest threats. We think that 47% of its geographic range has undergone habitat loss. A lot of its range is also ranched by cattle ranchers, which use herbicide to remove the native plants.

the lizard's current range in dark green. on the left side is New Mexico, on the right is Texas.

Researchers are basically asking that industry doesn't create roads directly through the sand dunes habitat - this is what is disrupting the lizard's ability to maintain populations via gene flow. The roads are fragmenting the habitat. Researchers even indicate that it would be possible to extract oil (god forbid we don't extract oil), without destroying the habitat. But you know this isn't going to happen.

In 2024 is when the species was finally listed as an Endangered Species, after many years of petitioning.

In 2025 US Senate candidate for Texas Ken Paxton sued the Dept of the Interior and the US Fish & Wildlife Services saying the listing undermines development (of the oil industry).

In June 2026 (yes, that recently), the Trump administration reached an agreement with Paxton challenging the endangered designation. Currently, they are tossing the endangered listing and issuing a "new finding" on the lizard's status. Meanwhile, The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a request in federal court to oppose this plan (this ended up not doing anything).

July 21, 2026 , a settlement was reached between the federal government and Paxton, which has ended the species' endangered status.

This settlement requires USFWS to issue a new finding over a 12 month period to determine if the lizard will be classified now as endangered or threatened.

In February of 2026, the lesser prairie chicken (related to the sage grouse) was also removed from the endangered species list.

I do not know what the future will hold for the dunes sagebrush lizard. I don't know of any further updates. I'm positive the lizard's status will be magically found non-endangered to pave the way (literally) for increased oil extraction in Texas. Part of the lizard's range is in New Mexico, a state that has a record of standing up to Trump bullies, so it may fare better there.

As you are probably thinking here, the issue is less so that this specific species becomes extinct (although holy shit, that is pretty harrowing), but more about how future endangered and threatened listings will be handled. It's less about this particular lizard and more about the ecosystem as a whole. All ecosystems, in fact the entire natural world, is a Jenga tower. If you pull out too many of the bricks, the whole thing comes toppling down. We have pulled out a lot of bricks already. It's actually already toppling, as you may have been informed by the increasingly hot summers.

this one works in both directions.<br>source.

Read more about this species:<br>Dunes Sagebrush Lizard Research, Texas A&M University

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