Chuckwalla Lizard Part 1 of 2 (at Lindsay Wildlife Experience)

I took pix of a chuckwalla lizard last month when I visited Lindsay Wildlife Experience (LWE), a wild-animal rescue facility that rehabilitates 5,500 animals a year. The keeper, who had a harness on it, invited us to touch its back, head to tail direction, and not the other direction. It was bigger than geckos that I'd occasionally seen in my garage, and not particularly colorful. If the keeper mentioned gender, name, habitat, or other details, I didn't retain the info. Fortunately, I did recall "chuckwalla".

This week, my interest in the chuckwalla increased after I researched info and published my blog article about a related lizard: "Texas Spiny Lizard and Some Kin". I poked around LWE's webpages. I figured basic chuckwalla info would include webpage timeframe, name, gender. My online travels to find and organize those pieces of info seemed like Family Circus dashed line paths. Such information was confusing among LWE webpages, the most mystifying being no year reference.

From "Common Chuckwalla"—"newest and youngest reptile animal ambassador. She came to live at Lindsay Wildlife in 2014 at only a few years old." Note reference to "she" at condensed info and expansive info pages.

The "Name Lindsay’s New Common Chuckwalla", besides including "October 18" without a year, confused me because of seemingly male names and descriptions as follow:

Joshua – To represent Joshua Tree National Park.
Guapo – Meaning handsome in Spanish.
Aladar – This is the name of the iguanodon from the Disney movie Dinosaur.
Pasqual – To represent San Pasqual Band of Diegueño Mission Indians of California.

Instagram and Facebook both enlightened and confused—two posts a week apart that listed "2017" for the year.

1. May 21, 2017—"Chucki says 'happy Sunday'!" I think a name that ends with "i" instead of "y" usually signals a female. Confirmation? Maybe not.
2. May 28, 2017—"CHUCK SAYS HAPPY SUNDAY …".

Both posts had the same picture for both "Chucki" and "Chuck"! Weirdly, both Instagram and Facebook's posting dates were Mondays, not Sundays. So, I wondered, what's going on with LWE's post talking about a name for its male chuckwalla. ??

Closer Looks Through Facebook

When I started including "Facebook" with my searches for chuckwalla and Lindsay Wildlife Experience, more background info emerged. The September 15 Facebook post announces deeper details about the male chuckwalla's arrival at LWE. Three images accompany this post.

The new ambassador now at Lindsay is: A Common Chuckwalla! This is Lindsay's second Common Chuckwalla onsite. Our other is named Chucki and she has been at Lindsay since 2014. … And we are happy to have him because now he and Chucki can be on display together in the Exhibit Hall. … And stay tuned for when we announce how to help name this awesome reptile!

A Facebook post October 10 about naming the chuckwalla had almost identical info as the LWE naming-contest post.

Closer Looks and More Complete Recent Info Through Instagram

When I started including "Instagram" with my searches for chuckwalla and Lindsay Wildlife Experience, details became more clear. Google provided an Instagram link WRT voting for a name for their new male. The hit summary especially helped by listing Oct 10, 2018 for date.

lindsaywildlifeVOTE NOW: NAME THAT CHUCKWALLA! Help us name our new Common Chuckwalla. Our new male Chuckwalla comes from our friends at the Oakland Zoo. He and our other Chuckwalla, Chucki, can be found on display together in the Exhibit Hall. But this new wildlife ambassador needs a name. …

The Instagram and Facebook posts coincided with each other for topic for naming the chuckwalla and dates.

Some previous-years Instagram posts came up via "lindsaywildlife":

1. December 11, 2016 featuring chuckwalla Chucki and desert iguana Sonora: "lindsaywildlifeGal pals Chucki and Sonora." (Click hashtags at the post to display additional pix.)
2. March 22, 2017 featuring towel-wrapped Chucki: "Chucki really seems to enjoy her warm bath. …"
3. March 24, 2017 announcing Sonora's death. The post includes a link to a very short video of her from earlier in the month.

Returning to more current Instagram posts, LWE's post of October 17 provided the chuckwalla-naming vote outcome and cleared up my confusion about the male/female animal.

lindsaywildlifeMEET… GUAPO! Thanks to all who voted. It was a very, very close vote for the winning name for our new Common Chuckwalla. The name Guapo, meaning handsome in Spanish, won out for this new wildlife ambassador. Thanks all for voting!

We agree and think this lizard is muy guapo! Come meet him in person and his friend Chucki, our female Common Chuckwalla, the next time you are at Lindsay Wildlife.

LWE's Instagram Halloween post and picture of the pair provided more chuckwalla content. It even gave me more help with my inquisitiveness—the keeper's name.

COUPLE COSTUME GOALS: Our two Common Chuckwallas Guapo and Chucki will for sure win Best Couple Costume tonight! They are all decked out in their [sic], specially made by Keeper Rachael, dragon wings! And Chucki, the girl chuckwalla, wanted to show who was boss so she just laid on top of Guapo!

FWIW, I think the picture was cropped too narrow for having excluded both lizards' snouts. Anyway, based on a few pix of the LWE's male chuckwalla (Guapo) being darkish blue, I think my chuckwalla pic is more likely Chucki (kinda grayish in my pix) than Guapo.

Not Facebook nor Instagram Help

Twitter posts were rare WRT chuckwalla and Lindsay Wildlife Experience. One Goggle hit that I explored, however, helped for date context by listing an actual event date—"Saturday, October 20, 2018" . "Feathers, Scales, & Furry Tails! Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Beach Park" shows a prominent pic of a chuckwalla. This picture is the same one on LWE's thumbnail pic of chuckwalla in "Adopt An Animal".

Read my second part about chuckwallas Chuckwalla Lizard Part 2 of 2 (with Walla Segue).

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Lizard articles:

• Chuckwalla Lizard Part 2 of 2 (with Walla Segue)
  
• Chuckwalla Lizard Part 1 of 2 (at Lindsay Wildlife Experience)
• Texas Spiny Lizard and Some Kin
  

Texas Spiny Lizard and Some Kin

Last week during a walk, a critter scampered up a 6' picket fence. It splayed its legs along a picket (6" wide). From the positioning of the head, neck, and tail extending into adjacent pickets, it looked to be up to a foot long. The biggest eye-catchers were glimpses of blue at its underbelly and spiky dorsal. The spikiness, imho, makes it look somewhat prehistoric, like a scelidosaurus, or maybe a dragon.

A friend more familiar with lizards than I thought it might be a Texas spiny lizard. The next day, I rooted around the web for more info and images. (Some resources will be about additional spiny lizards and likewise spiky-looking horned lizards.)

"WILD ABOUT TEXAS: Texas spiny lizards harmless, helpful" provides good, moderate amount of info about my animal of interest.

often called "tree lizards" or "fence lizards" by those who are lucky enough to witness them, and for good reason. Texas spiny lizards are highly arboreal, spending much of their time above the ground in oak, pecan or mesquite trees. Wooden fenceposts are also a favorite, …

adult males frequently achieving lengths of nearly 11 inches. … The lizard's belly is usually cream colored, and males have two blue patches on either side of their belly. The tail is quite long.

For stepping back and taking a bigger-picture look at lizards, visit "A List of Different Types of Lizards With Facts and Images", which has loads of overall info and pretty pix. Note: the family categorization WRT spiny lizards goes down to only "Phrynosomatidae Family".

Click the taxonomy tab of "Phrynosomatid Lizards (Family Phrynosomatidae)" to view the subfamilies of Phrynosomatinae, which include Horned Lizards (Genus Phrynosoma) and Sceloporinae Spiny Lizards (Genus Sceloporus). The Texas spiny lizard a member of this genus, as is the desert spiny lizard.

For deeper drilldown of taxonomy of Phrynosomatidae > Sceloporinae > Spiny Lizards (Genus Sceloporus) > Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus), visit "Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus)". View numerous pix at "Photos of Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus)". For kin spiny lizards (seemingly close cousins), visit "Spiny Lizards (Genus Sceloporus)".

Horned lizards are similar to spiny lizards. Organization is Phrynosomatinae > Horned Lizards (Genus Phrynosoma)".

Many of the resources I list are videos because they contain many more visual details of these animals than static pages. Note the similarities in name and looks among Texas spiny lizard, desert spiny lizard, and Texas horned lizard. Another lizard in my following mix is the regal honed lizard.

"Reptile - Lizard: Texas Spiny Lizard" has good views and general info about the female lizard.

"Wild Desert Spiny Lizard Loves Flies" shows best profile view at about 1:00. the narrator for "Desert Spiny Lizard" provides good views and general info about the male lizard.

At "Spiny Lizard Catches Me!", most footage of the desert spiny lizard starts at about 8:30. Other significant items (at front end of video) are a large fallen saguaro cactus and small diamondback rattlesnake. The lizard's tongue, viewable for about a split second, shows up at 12:54 mark. (The lizard's tongue is significant in my Supergirl reference farther down.)

In "Lizard Covered in SPIKES?!", the animal is a Regal Horned Lizard, but skin spikiness is similar to a spiny lizard. This video includes a roadrunner without audio of "Beep! Beep!" View another spiky lizard—the Texas horned lizard which has Texas state fame.

Texas designated the Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) the official state reptile in 1993. … Known variously as a horned toad, horny toad, and horned frog

A recent Supergirl episode featured a spiky lizard. "Supergirl 4x06 Kara fights a Dragon (HD)" shows Spike, a girl's alien lizard that transforms into a flying, flame-breathing dragon. Spike is mostly in dim lighting while in the terrarium near the clip's start, on the floor later, and in Supergirl's arms near the clip's end. Spike as lizard has a pointy head and long tongue.

Spike as dragon has a more rounded jaw, not-obvious tongue as he blows flames outward. Imho, if not for wings and fire-breathing and outsize scale (size, not dermis), he resembles the Texas spiny lizard.

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Lizard articles:

• Chuckwalla Lizard Part 2 of 2 (with Walla Segue)
  
• Chuckwalla Lizard Part 1 of 2 (at Lindsay Wildlife Experience)
• Texas Spiny Lizard and Some Kin