Photo of the Day: Chuckwalla

The bad fat lizard of the desert

Captive chuckwalla lizard at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, CO | © Jason P. Odell

The chuckwalla (Sauromalus obesus) is a resident of the southwestern US deserts. Its Latin name translates as “fat bad lizard” and they can indeed get quite angry if you try to handle them. I love these lizards, though. They’re large, and one of my office-mates in graduate school had some that he kept in captivity (with a permit, of course). The chuckwalla is herbivorous, meaning it only eats leaves and other plant material. It’s able to survive in the harsh desert environment, which is something animal physiologists love to study (my nerd cred is showing here).

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