Sceloporus malachiticus is common in open areas >1500 m in elevation in Costa Rica. They are fast and skittish, so these individuals were a team effort in their catch. While S. malachiticus is viviparous, giving birth to live, developed young, other Sceloporus species are oviparous, laying small eggs and burying them in the soil. It’s thought that vivipary is common in lizards living at high elevations because it allows the females to better thermoregulate their developing young-that is, a gravid female can move her internal young around in her environment to regulate their temperature.