Habitat:  This lizard is very active and exists in large numbers when encountered.  Also as their name would suggest, racerunners are incredibly fast making them very difficult to catch by hand.  They live in hot, dry areas -- open fields or rocky outcrops.  In West Virginia, the only known population lives on a rock outcrop along a railroad near the Maryland border (see photo to the right).  They are active during the hottest part of the day, in temperatures over 90 degrees F, in direct sunlight.

Breeding Activity:  Racerunners lay between 1 or 2 clutches of eggs per year.  Mating occurs in May and June in the Midwest.  Eggs are deposited in sandy soil or sawdust and the incubation period is about 60 days.

Range:  Until the summer or 1999, racerunners were not officially known to occur in West Virginia.  A population was documented near Paw Paw, WV after Marty Martin claimed to have seen them there several years ago.  Zach Felix and Jeff Humphries observed 12 individuals in late July on a rock outcrop near a tunnel on the B&O Railroad, along the Maryland border.

This lizard probably exists in other parts of West Virginia.  They may migrate along railroad tracks, as these areas are oftentimes open and very hot during the summer.

Status:  Not yet listed.  The species was only formally described from West Virginia in August, 1999.  Only 1 population is known, however.