See a Desert Iguana

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Find this heat-loving, desert-dweller where the creosote bush is. The desert iguana lives pretty much wherever creosote is. After all, the plant makes up most of its diet and also provides a home and protection against predators and extreme temperatures. Desert iguanas don’t mind most heat though. They can be seen meandering about midday during the hottest summers. They are creatures of summer--emerging from their winter hibernation in mid-March to breed. Mainly herbivores, desert iguanas have an interesting diet. Creosote bush is their food of choice most of the time, but they also eat insects, carrion, and (this is where it gets interesting) the poop of other iguanas. It’s not for nothing. Eating other iguanas’ fecal matter aids in the digestion of creosote by establishing proper gut fauna. Just think: free probiotics! Another very interesting part of desert iguanas are the special pores they have on the undersides of their legs. Secretions from these femoral pores fluoresce--providing not only scent markings, but also likely helping desert iguanas see each other across vast expanses of creosote.

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