ZOOLOGICAL TERMS

ANT BEAR - Large anteater. Shaggy, with prominent white and black stripes on an otherwise largely greyish body.

BADGER - A widely distributed, moderate-sized burrowing mammal.

BIGHORN SHEEP - A wild browser native to the American southwest.

BOBCAT - A medium-sized cat with tufted ears and a distinctive short tail

CAMEL (Bactrian Camel, Dromedary or Arabian Camel) - Genus Camelus. A large hardy mammal of desert regions, characterized by large humps on the back used for water storage.

CHEETAH - A slim and swift leopard-sized cat, currently limited to the African continent. Noted for its ability to run down game.

COLLARED LIZARD - Another large lizard. Colorful, with a light-colored ring around its lower neck region that has the appearance of a collar.

CORAL SNAKE - A small but very poisonous denison of the more tropical climates in North America, occasionally found in the desert. It is largely nocturnal, and a true viper.

COYOTE - An American wild dog, originally native to the desert and prairie regions of the American Southwest, but now ranging into all 48 contiguous states, Canada, and Mexico. There are many excellent web sites that describe this magnificent canid, some of which can be found here.

DESERT TORTOISE - A large terrestrial turtle of the American southwest desert. Capable of storing large amounst of water in its bladder, and protected by its hard carapace from the extremes of temperature and predators, this creature is well-suited to the desert.

DIAMONDBACK - A very large, fat rattlesnake, (up to five feet or longer in length).

GAZELLE - Any of several swift, African and Asian antelope species. (Genus Gazella.)

GRAY FOX - A larger desert fox.

HORNED LIZARD (or Horned Toad) - Contrary to its popular name, it is in fact a reptile, and a member of the lizard family. Marked by a mottled, almost jagged skin, this creature is often hard to see, but its flattened stout body has other defenses as well. It can lose its tail like many other lizards, and when captured, excretes a foul, bloody-looking substance from ducts near its eyes. An able hunter, the Horned Lizard is a common denizen of the American southwest.

JACK RABBIT - Food for those who can catch it. This is a larger, scrawny, long-eared lagomorph, capable of speeds around 30 mph, and can change direction rapidly to elude potential predators.

KANGAROO - Marsupial "Deer" of the Australian continent, often found in the arid and semi-arid reaches of the "Outback."

KIT FOX - A small American desert fox, noted for its disproportionately large ears.

LLAMA - A South American Camel, also known for its hardiness under arid conditions. Commonly used as a pack animal, most Llamas are domesticated. Llamas are big business. Less well known are their cousins, the Alpaca, Vicuna, and the Guanaco, some of which are still wild, and all denisons of the Altiplano, or high desert of the Andes, and points south, to the more temperate regions of South America. Shown here is the Guanaco, clearly "racier" looking than a typical Llama.

MEXICAN WOLF - The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is the southernmost occurring, rarest, and most genetically distinct subspecies of gray wolf in North America. It was originally found in the mountainous regions of the Southwest from central Mexico throughout portions of southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The Mexican wolf, or "lobo" as it was called by the Spanish-speaking people, was removed by predator control programs and currently is known to exist only in captivity.

Most information about the lobo comes from trappers' journals and reports because wild populations were exterminated before they were scientifically studied. A typical Mexican wolf weighs 60-80 lbs, is about 5 1/2 feet in total length, and has a richly-colored coat of buff, gray, red, and black. Like all wolves, the lobo is a social creature with a complex system of communication maintained through vocalizations, body posture, and scent marking. Prey for Mexican wolves includes white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and javelina.

You can look at more details about the Mexican wolf here.

MOUNTAIN LION - Also known as "Cougar," "Catamount," "Puma," or even "Panther," this member of the cat family is a top-notch predator. Restricted largely to the higher elevations, it will hunt where the game is, and is seen occasionaly in the desert. It is to be respected and given distance where possible. Photo courtesey of San Diego Natural History Museum

MULE DEER - A large browsing mammal commonly found in many arid and semi-arid regions of the American southwest.

OPOSSUM ("Possum") - North Americas one surviving marsupial. (The Central American Sloths could be its nearest relative.) Never-the-less, this Racoon-sized creature, with its unbecoming rat-like face, has been highly successful in North America, living in niches ranging from western backyards to small dense forests of the east coast. Found in desert climes as well - usually near water.

PECCARY - One of three species of small, desert mammals, related to pigs. Pictured is the Collared Peccary or "Javalina", Teyassu pecari. Thanks to the University of Alberta for this photo.

PEPSIS WASP - A large wasplike insect of the desert and semi-arid regions, this animal is well-known for its predation of the Tarantula.

PRAIRIE DOG - A colonial rodent known for its standing guard on its hind legs over its den.

PUPFISH - A small but hardy group of fish that inhabit desert water bodies, including Salt Creek, shown here, in the heart of Death Valley. This incredibly salty stream runs all year, but is 6 times saltier than seawater.

RACOON - A dextrous, omnivorous mammal, the size of a small dog, with a distinctive mask-like pattern in the facial hair.

RATTLESNAKE - An American venomous snake of the family Crotalidae. Referred to as "Pit Vipers" because of the pronounced pit in the skin near the eyes. A series of horney, interlocking joints at the tail cause the classic rattling sound when the snake shakes its tail in warning. This colorful one is the Hopi Rattlesnake - Crotalus viridus nuntius.

ROAD-RUNNER - A moderately sized ground bird, plumed with elongate strips of light and dark feathers, and a pronounced crest above the head. This bird can move along the ground at a rapid pace, and has a crow-like curiosity.

SIDEWINDER - A small species of rattlesnake, that locomotes with a unique mechanism, leaving the characteristic en echelon lines in the soil.

SPOTTED SKUNK - Skunks are a common desert denison. Largely nocturnal, they are approximately the size of a large squirrel, and the characteristic odor sacks at the rectal opening which is to be avoided at all costs.

TARANTULA - One of several species of large arachnid common in warm dry areas.

WILD BURRO - These former pack animals are now running wild, as are some horses, in the American Southwest, primarily in eastern California and in Nevada. They are descended from northeastern African Asses. In some cases they are now being rounded up and given away as adoptions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Email Canis Latrans.

Back to main menu.

Back to home page