Chuckwalla

Like me, you probably didn’t know that there’s a lizard called a chuckwalla (Sauromalus spp.). This picture from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum on November 7th of last year shows that there is.

Written by Steve Schwartzman

February 2, 2017 at 4:56 AM

Posted in nature photography

Tagged with animal, Arizona, desert, lizard, nature, reptile, Tucson

16 Responses

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Great photo of a very handsome creature, Steve – what a fascinating tail!

composerinthegarden

February 2, 2017 at 5:34 AM

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- That tail sure is distinctive. I wonder why the tip is different from the rest.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  February 2, 2017 at 6:13 AM
  
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The tail reminds me of an armadillo’s. Its armor-plated appearance doesn’t seem to go with all that bagginess up front. It’s really sort of cute, in an awkward kind of way.

I wondered about the name. I found that Walla Walla comes from a native American word meaning “land of many waters,” so that seemed an unlikely connection. Eventually, I found this, from the St. Louis zoo: “The name “chuckwalla” derives from the Shoshone tcaxxwal or the Cahuilla caxwal, which the Spaniards transcribed as chacahuala.

shoreacres

February 2, 2017 at 6:39 AM

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- Knowing my interest in etymology, you won’t be surprised that I’d also looked into the origin of the name. My assumption was that the word originated in an Indian language and got transcribed by the Spanish, and so it was. I haven’t yet found a site that tells whether the Indian name meant anything (e.g. ‘dark lizard’) other than the animal itself.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  February 2, 2017 at 6:47 AM
  
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What a handsome specimen!

Littlesundog

February 2, 2017 at 8:30 AM

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- The photographer’s not bad, either!
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  February 2, 2017 at 11:49 AM
  
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Surprisingly graceful, this creature, and with such an elaborate tail. I miss coming across lizards.

melissabluefineart

February 2, 2017 at 8:45 AM

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- Doesn’t Illinois have its complement of lizards? They’re common in central Texas and westward from here.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  February 2, 2017 at 12:41 PM
  
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  - I think there are lizards at the southern end of the state, but none up here. Don’t know why, as we do have some handsome snakes. I used to enjoy seeing them in California and in the Spokane area of WA.
    
    melissabluefineart
    
    February 3, 2017 at 8:31 AM
    
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    - I see what you mean. The website
      
      http://www.chicagoherp.org/index.php?link=herpsofil#lizards
      
      lists only six lizards for the state of Illinois. There’s no indication which part of the state each inhabits.
      
      Steve Schwartzman
      
      February 3, 2017 at 9:56 AM
      
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Imperious-looking for a critter with the nickname Chuckwalla. haha
Great photo. I enjoyed the waves and sand dunes yesterday, too.
The creeping plants have a hard time holding down the sand. Folks who walk on
them do not respect that.
I like the the waves crashing also; I particularly liked that they were not softened
because their vigor would have been diminished. Save that for streams and
maybe waterfalls??

Dianne

February 2, 2017 at 10:09 AM

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- You’ve made me wonder if there’s a guy out there somewhere named Charles Walla, whose nickname could be Chuck Walla. Stop the presses: I just searched and found there’s a Charles Walla in New Hampshire. His Facebook picture even shows him as a nature photographer.
  
  As for the crashing waves in the previous post, I assume the softening you mentioned is the sort that results when photographers set a long exposure to create a cottony effect. I’ve done that a few times just to see how flowing or falling water would look, e.g.
  
  https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2014/09/20/6-7/
  
  but in general I try to stop the action and preserve details. I photographed the Rancho Guadalupe waves at 1/800 of a second.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  February 2, 2017 at 12:56 PM
  
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  - I like the cottony effect. This picture is full of life.
    
    marianschiltz
    
    March 7, 2017 at 12:28 AM
    
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    - I’ve occasionally created a cottony effect but mostly I’ve used a high shutter speed to record the texture of moving water.
      
      Steve Schwartzman
      
      March 7, 2017 at 12:33 PM
      
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Fantastic.

rabirius

February 2, 2017 at 11:50 AM

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- That remains the one and only chuckwalla I’ve ever seen.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  February 2, 2017 at 1:15 PM
  
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