Prior to 2005, it was considered a subspecies of the granite night lizard, Xantusia henshawi.

The physical difference is that the sandstone night lizard has lighter coloration.

The sandstone night lizard is extremely limited geographically; it is known only to the Truckhaven Rocks in the Colorado Desert, at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in eastern San Diego County, California.

The lizard is very secretive using small burrows and sandstone or siltstone for cover.

This article is based on a description from the website of California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System https://web.archive.org/web/20060805132729/http://www.dfg.ca.gov/whdab/html/reptiles.html