NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Desert Iguana
Dipsosaurus dorsalis (Baird & Girard, 1852)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The desert iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis) is an iguana species found in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, as well as on several Gulf of California islands.
Wikipedia contributors, Desert iguana; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:31:36.108185+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dipsosaurus dorsalis (Baird & Girard, 1852)
- Name authority
- (Baird & Girard, 1852)
- Common name
- Desert Iguana
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Iguanidae
- Genus
- Dipsosaurus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyIguanidae
- genusDipsosaurus
- speciesDipsosaurus dorsalis (Baird & Girard, 1852)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Dipsosaurus carmenensis Van Denburgh, 1922 Van Denburgh, 1922 | synonym |
| Crotaphytus dorsalis Baird & Girard, 1852 Baird & Girard, 1852 | synonym |
| Dipsosaurus dorsalis lucasensis Van Denburgh, 1920 Van Denburgh, 1920 | synonym |
| Dipsosaurus dorsalis carmenensis Van Denburgh, 1922 Van Denburgh, 1922 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Dipsosaurus&species=dorsalis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:36QKD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.