Twin-spotted Spiny Lizard

Reptiles > Lizards

The Twin-spotted Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus bimaculosus) is a large, heavily armored reptile native to the sun-baked canyon cliffs and rocky slopes of the Chihuahuan Desert. Easily distinguished by its sharp, overlapping keeled scales and two prominent dark blotches or...

Mojave Fringe-toed Lizard

Reptiles > Lizards

The Mojave Fringe-toed Lizard (Uma scoparia) is a charismatic sand-dune specialist endemic to the isolated blowsand dune fields of the Mojave Desert. Renowned for the remarkable comb-like fringe of scales along its hind toes that allow it to sprint across scorching,...

Pond Loach

Fish > Suckerfishes & Loaches

The Flannelmouth Sucker (Catostomus latipinnis) is an iconic native big-river fish of the Colorado River system, famed for navigating the roaring whitewater rapids and deep desert canyons of the American West. It takes its descriptive common name from its enormous,...

Baillon’s Crake

Birds > Rails & Coots

Baillon’s Crake (Zapornia pusilla) is the smallest species of rail in Europe and Africa, barely larger than a common starling. Named in honor of French naturalist Louis Antoine François Baillon, this tiny, exquisite marsh phantom navigates the densest aquatic...

Giant Coot

Birds > Rails & Coots

The Giant Coot (Fulica gigantea), known locally as the Pari or Ajoya, is the undisputed heavyweight titan of the global rail family. Confined to freezing, windswept alpine lakes high in the South American Andes up to 5,000 meters above sea level, this colossal,...