Harmless · Native to the United States

Desert iguana

Dipsosaurus dorsalis (Baird & Girard, 1852)

Also called northern desert iguana
Data updated October 2026

Desert iguana on pale sand, showing its round blunt head, pale gray body with tan netting and long banded tail
Fig. 1 — Adult on desert sand, with the pale netted pattern and long, ringed tail.
Close view of a desert iguana's small, round head and the crest of enlarged scales along its back
Fig. 2 — A small, blunt head and a low crest of enlarged scales down the back.

At a glance

A pale, mostly plant-eating lizard of creosote-bush desert in the Southwest and northwestern Mexico. It handles heat better than almost any other North American reptile and is often still active at midday when other lizards have taken shelter.

01

Identification

The desert iguana is a fairly large, pale lizard with a small, round head, a blunt snout and a very long, thick tail. Its body is whitish to pale gray or beige with a net of tan, reddish-brown or darker markings, and the tail is ringed with brown spots or bands. A single row of slightly enlarged, keeled scales runs down the middle of the back like a low crest. In the breeding season the sides of the belly turn pinkish or reddish in both sexes.

  1. 01Small, blunt head. Rounded and short compared with the long body and tail.
  2. 02Back crest. One row of enlarged scales down the spine, reaching nearly to the tail tip.
  3. 03Ringed tail. A long tail, about as long as the body or longer, with rows of brown spots or rings.

Commonly confused with

The leopard lizard has a longer, pointed head, dark spots instead of a netted pattern, and no crest down the back.

02

Size

01 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft Typical adult · about 12 in (30 cm)

The body measures about 4 to 5¾ inches (10–14.6 cm) from snout to vent, and the tail adds about as much again or more. Most adults are roughly a foot long in total, and the largest reach about 16 inches (40 cm). Males and females are similar in size.

03

Range & habitat

Sandy desert flat dotted with creosote bushes
Fig. 3 — Sandy creosote-bush flats are the desert iguana’s core habitat.

Desert iguanas live in southeastern California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and western and south-central Arizona, and south into Baja California, northwestern mainland Mexico and some Gulf of California islands. Their range closely follows that of the creosote bush.

They are most common on sandy flats, dunes, washes and floodplains with creosote scrub, and also use rocky areas with sandy hummocks. They are found from below sea level to around 4,000–5,000 feet. In the far south of the range they also live in subtropical scrub and dry tropical forest.

04

Diet & predators

Unlike most North American lizards, the desert iguana is mainly a plant eater. It climbs into creosote and other shrubs to eat leaves, buds and flowers, and creosote is a staple. It also takes insects and carrion, and it eats the droppings of other desert iguanas, which passes on the gut bacteria it needs to digest tough plant material.

Feeds on

  • Creosote leaves and flowers
  • Buds and flowers of other shrubs
  • Insects
  • Carrion

Preyed on by

  • Hawks and other birds of prey
  • Lizard-eating snakes
  • Foxes and coyotes
Creosote bush with small yellow flowers
Food — creosote bush leaves and flowers.
Red-tailed hawk perched on a post
Predator — hawks.

05

Behavior & seasons

Desert iguanas tolerate higher temperatures than any other North American reptile. They are active by day and often keep foraging and basking after the midday heat has driven other lizards underground. They are very fast runners and dash to a burrow when disturbed, usually one dug among the roots of a creosote bush. Unlike many lizards, they do not readily drop the tail, though a broken tail can regrow.

They come out of winter dormancy around mid-March and spend the cold months underground. Males do territorial push-up displays. Secretions from the femoral pores on the thighs reflect ultraviolet light the lizards can see, which may help them mark and recognize occupied ground.

06

Reproduction

Breeding takes place in spring and early summer, mainly April to June, when both sexes show pinkish sides. Females lay one clutch of about 2 to 10 eggs, usually 3 to 8, between late May and August, and may lay a second clutch in good years. Hatchlings appear from late July through August and have a bolder pattern than adults.

07

Conservation

The desert iguana has no federal listing under the Endangered Species Act and no state status in California, where it is not on the Special Animals List. It remains common across much of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, and no major conservation concerns are recorded for it. See which reptiles are listed

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated October 2026 · How we build these pages