A large herbaceous lizard (Sauromalus obesus) of the southwest United States and Mexico, related to the iguana.
[American Spanish chacahuala, from Cahuilla tcáxxwal.]
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n.
Word Origins:
chuckwalla
from Cahuilla
This word originated in United States
How much walla could a chuckwalla chuck if a chuckwalla could chuck walla? This question makes as much sense for the chuckwalla as a similar question does for the similarly named woodchuck. The name has nothing to do with chucking or wallahs (the latter a Hindi word referring to people who do particular work, like a dictionary wallah). Rather, chuckwalla is an English rendition of a Spanish rendition of a word in the Cahuilla Indian language of southern California, recorded in English since 1893.
The chuckwalla is a lizard that lives in the deserts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It likes heat and doesn't start moving in the morning till the sun warms it to about 100 degrees. To cool off when the sun gets too hot, it crawls into the shade, but it can also change color to reflect more or less light and heat.
A strict vegetarian, the chuckwalla contents itself with eating fruit, flowers, buds, and leaves. Its skin hangs loosely from a plump body, and it grows to a good size, eleven to eighteen inches long. It hides from enemies by scurrying between rocks and inflating itself so that it is wedged safely in place. And since it spends most of its time quietly making itself comfortable, the chuckwalla can make a good pet.
Indians in Death Valley, California, sought it out for food. "Desert Indians all eat chuckwallas, big black and white lizards that have delicate white flesh savored like chicken," wrote Mary Hunter Austin in her novel about the Shoshone, The Land of Little Rain (1903).
Cahuilla is now spoken by no more than fifty people, mostly on the Cahuilla reservation in the southern California desert. It is a member of the Shoshonean language family, kin to Hopi, Comanche, Ute, and Paiute, among others. No other Cahuilla words have made their way into English.
WordNet:
chuckwalla
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
rock-dwelling herbivorous lizard of arid parts of southwestern United States and Mexico
Synonym: Sauromalus obesus
Wikipedia:
Chuckwalla
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Sauromalus ater |
Chuckwallas (less commonly Chuckawallas) are large lizards found primarily in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Some are found on coastal islands. There are five species of Chuckwalla, all within the genus Sauromalus; they are part of the iguana family, Iguanidae.
The name Chuckwalla derives from the Shoshone word "tcaxxwal" or Cahuilla "caxwal", transcribed by Spaniards as "chacahuala".
Physical description
Reaching a total length of 16 inches (40 cm) and a weight of 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms), Chuckwallas are noted for their wide, flattened midsections and prominent paunch. Their tails are also notably thick, tapering to a blunt tip. Loose folds of skin characterize the neck and sides of the body, which is covered in small, coarsely granular scales. Males are generally larger than females.
Sexual dimorphism is marked, with males having reddish to orange, yellow or light gray bodies and black heads, shoulders and limbs; females and the immature have bodies with scattered spots or contrasting bands of light and dark in shades of gray or yellow.
Well-developed femoral pores are located on the inner side of the thighs in males; these pores produce secretions believed to play a role in marking territory.
Range, habitat and diet
The genus Sauromalus has a wide distribution in desert biomes. This is especially true of the Common Chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater),
found from southern California east to southern Nevada and Utah, western Arizona and
south to Baja California and northwestern Mexico. Other species are island-dwelling and
therefore have much more restricted distributions: Two rare and endangered are the
Chuckwalla de Montserrat (Sauromalus slevini) found on Islas
Carmen, Coronados and Montserrat and the
San Esteban Chuckwalla or Painted Chuckwalla (Sauromalus varius) found on San Esteban Island,
Chuckwallas prefer lava flows and rocky areas, and many more such as those found in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. These areas are typically vegetated by creosote bush and other such drought-tolerant scrub. The lizards may be found at elevations of up to 4,500 feet (1,370 metres).
Primarily herbivorous, Chuckwallas feed on leaves, fruit and flowers of annuals and perennial plants; insects represent a supplementary prey. The lizards are said to prefer yellow flowers, such as those of the brittlebush (Encelia farinosa).
Behavior and reproduction
Harmless to humans, these lizards are known to run from potential threats; a tight rock crevice is sought wherein the Chuckwalla will inflate its body with air in order to entrench itself.
Males are seasonally and conditionally territorial; an abundance of resources tends to create a hierarchy based on size, with one large male dominating the area's smaller males. Chuckwallas use a combination of colour and physical displays, namely "push ups", head-hobbing, and gaping of the mouth to communicate and defend their territory (see animal communication). In lean periods no territories are observed.
Chuckwallas are diurnal animals and as they are exothermic, spend much of their mornings and winter days basking. These lizards are well adapted to desert conditions; they are active at temperatures of up to 102°F (39°C). Chuckwallas hibernate during cooler months and emerge in February.
Mating occurs from April to July, with 5-16 eggs laid between June and August. The eggs hatch in late September. Chuckwallas may live for 25 years or more.
Miscellaneous
The Seri people considered the chuckwalla an important food item.[1]
Notes
- ^ Richard Felger and Mary B. Moser (1985) People of the desert and sea: ethnobotany of the Seri Indians Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Word Origins. The World in So Many Words, by Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chuckwalla". Read more |
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