Sauromalus ater
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Sauromalus ater, also known as the common chuckwalla or northern chuckwalla, is a species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. It inhabits the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Its range extends from eastern California, Utah, and Nevada south to Baja California and Sonora.
The common name "chuckwalla" (or chuckawalla) is derived from the Shoshone word tcaxxwal, or caxwal, the form used by the Cahuilla of southeastern California. Its generic name, Sauromalus, is said to be a combination of two ancient Greek words: sauros meaning "lizard" and omalus meaning "flat". The proper ancient Greek word for "flat" is however homalos (ὁμαλός) or homalēs (ὁμαλής). Its specific name is ater, Latin for "black" or "dark"
The United States populations of the species were previously known as Sauromalus obesus; although that name is no longer officially recognized, it is still very common in the literature and it remains in many standard natural history references for North America. In 1998, Bradford D. Hollingsworth examined variations in Sauromalus and concluded that only five species should be recognized. He regarded S. obesus as conspecific... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Natura Artis Magistra | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 3 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 6 | Living Desert Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Cheyenne Mountain Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Oakland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Toledo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Wrocław Zoological Garden | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 16 | Dickerson Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Indianapolis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Montgomery Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 20 | Houston Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | ABQ BioPark Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Niabi Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Tierpark Hagenbeck | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 25 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 27 | Hogle Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | Krakow Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 29 | Riverbanks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Rosamond Gifford Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Turtle Back Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | John Ball Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 33 | California Living Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | Frankfurt Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 35 | Lehigh Valley Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Reserva Zoológica Oasys MiniHollywood | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 37 | Henry Vilas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 38 | Stone Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Sacramento Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 40 | Drayton Manor Theme Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 41 | Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 42 | ZooAmerica | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 43 | Elmwood Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 44 | VigoNature | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 45 | Bergen County Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 46 | Georgia Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 47 | Central Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 48 | Monterey Bay Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 49 | Africarium | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 50 | Exotarium Sosnowiec | 🇵🇱 Poland |
No species of the same family or order lives in Grand Canyon National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Chuckwalla sighting in Grand Canyon National Park on a given day, based on 47 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Common Chuckwalla in Grand Canyon National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and November–February, the lowest months. That is one of Grand Canyon National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 40 mm in March.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Chuckwalla sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Common Chuckwalla sightings, Grand Canyon National Park ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 80%) and Death Valley National Park (United States, about 70%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Chuckwalla is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Grand Canyon National Park (47 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
