Reptiles · Squamata · Iguanidae

Common Chuckwalla

Sauromalus ater

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The chuckwalla is a robust, herbivorous iguanid of the deserts of the south-western United States and Mexico, living among the crevices of rock outcrops. Its defence is purely mechanical: it wedges into a crack and inflates its lungs until it is jammed against the rock, so that it is impossible to pull out without breaking the stone.

Weight

400 g – 900 g

Size

30 cm – 45 cm

Lifespan

25 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

DesertMountainHerbivore Diurnal Solitary Reptile Desert Mountain

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Fun facts

GeneralIt wedges itself into a crack and inflates with air so it cannot be pulled out.
It jams itself into the crack: on detecting a predator it slips into a fissure in the rock and inflates its lungs until it doubles in volume, wedging itself so tightly that no animal can pull it out. The indigenous peoples of the desert extracted it by pricking it with a sharpened stick to deflate it.
It is a strict herbivore and gets all its water from the flowers and leaves it eats, with nasal glands that excrete the excess salt as a white crust around the nostrils.
It can live more than twenty-five years, a notable lifespan for a lizard weighing under a kilo.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (reptile)
Habitat & environment: Rocky outcrops and lava fields of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts
Sexual maturity: 2.5 years
Gestation / incubation: 35 days
Litter / clutch size: 8 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauromalus_ater