Gila Monster vs. Common Chuckwalla

Both are big, heavy, slow lizards of rocky desert hillsides in western, central and southern Arizona, and a dark Chuckwalla is sometimes reported as a Gila Monster. A: Big, round, bead-like scales in the Gila Monster; small, granular scales in the Common Chuckwalla. B: Black with pink, orange or yellow blotches or bands in the Gila Monster; grey, brown or black, often a reddish or grey body; loose folds of skin on the neck and sides in the Common Chuckwalla. C: Short and fat, with 3 to 5 black bands in the Gila Monster; thick at the base with a blunt tip in the Common Chuckwalla. The Gila Monster is venomous and protected by law: never handle one.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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