Camelback Chuckwalla

[Skipper7]

Last week I was in California and then Arizona for my spring break. I drove through Joshua Tree National Park and only hiked for a few hours. I didn't find much besides what appeared to be two different, and fairly abundant, species of lizard. Hindsight says I should've taken pics on a camera other than my phone. Can anyone identify these? I believe the darker one is a Great Basin Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis longipes) and the other is a California Side Blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana). Unfortunately I didnt see any Desert Iguanas or Desert Tortoises.

The lighter rocks are Joshua Tree pictures.

I hiked Camelback Mountain in Phoenix and saw plenty of Chuckwalla! I was pleased becuase these were on my "must see" list. They're interesting and beautiful lizards. To me, they almost look like a cross between a baby rock iguana and a beardie. They also have similar behaviors to beardies. That is, except the signature hide-in-a-rock maneuver.

The darker/red rocks are Camelback.

https://imgur.com/gallery/746QM

I hoped to see some snakes (especially rattlers), but alas, I did not. Thanks for looking!! I apologize for the poor photo and video quality.

[GyGbeetle]

I live in Arizona! We have a lot of scorpions too. White Tanks and the Sonoran Desert hiking areas have a lot of rattlers. Not entirely sure of Camelback because I haven't yet hiked in that area.

[Scubadiver59]

My favorite thing about Arizona were the Collared Lizards...dang those things could run!