Desert Iguana

(Dipsosaurus dorsalis)

The Desert Iguana is one of the most common lizards of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. They also occur on several Gulf of California islands. Their color is mostly grey and tan. These lizards can withstand high temperatures and are out and about after other lizards have retreated into their burrows. They burrow extensively and if threatened will scamper into a shrub and go quickly down a burrow. Their burrows are usually dug in the sand under bushes like the creosote. They also often use burrows of kit foxes and desert tortoises.