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Desert iguana

Dipsosaurus dorsalis · Lizards · Reptiles

Desert iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis): Medium-sized, pale lizard with a blunt head and a tail usually longer than the body (NDOW). Darker lines and stripes run the length of the body and through the tail (NDOW). This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Dipsosaurus dorsalis
Family
Iguanidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southern Nevada, southern California east of the Sierra Nevada and Coast ranges, and western and central Arizona south through Baja California and Sonora; United States range closely matches that of creosote bush; below sea level to about 1,520 m (NatureServe).
Biology

How to identify it

Medium-sized, pale lizard with a blunt head and a tail usually longer than the body (NDOW). [1][2]

Darker lines and stripes run the length of the body and through the tail (NDOW). [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Sandy arroyos and open areas with loose soil, typically creosote bush desert with sand hummocks and firm patches with scattered rocks; sometimes nearby rocky hillsides (NatureServe; NDOW). [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Often one of the only lizards active in the hottest part of the day; among the most heat-tolerant reptiles in North America (NDOW). [1][2]

Mostly eats leaves, buds and flowers, especially creosote bush, plus occasional insects and carrion (NDOW; NatureServe). [1][2]

Shelters in rodent burrows, rock crevices or under creosote; when cornered wedges into a tight space and inflates its body (NDOW; NatureServe). [1][2]

Mates April-May and lays 3-8 eggs June-August; inactive in cold weather (NatureServe). [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southern Nevada, southern California east of the Sierra Nevada and Coast ranges, and western and central Arizona south through Baja California and Sonora; United States range closely matches that of creosote bush; below sea level to about 1,520 m (NatureServe).

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. BIOLOGICALDesert Iguana

    Nevada Department of Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Nevada Department of Wildlife