The western whiptail is also a very common lizard. As its name suggests, it has a very long slender tail which it lashes from side to side as it runs. This lizard is easily distinguished from the side-blotched lizard by its larger size, longer more slender tail, and the presence of bars and spots of black upon its back. In late summer, junior-sized young whiptails appear, but their 3-inch total length is unimpressive compared to 8-inch adults. The young are quite handsome with pleasing body colors and bright-blue tails.

Often lizards are seen whose tails are missing. When the tail is pulled or injured it can be shed by its owner. The shed tail may wriggle for several minutes and attract the predator’s attention while the lizard escapes. The tailless lizard soon grows another one that is usually recognizable by its subdued or otherwise different color pattern. Sometimes the broken tail does not fall off so it and the new tail form a fork.

In summary then, we see that this apparently lifeless desert does support a wide variety of living things and a great number of individuals. Some of them, the plants and small animals, live here all year round while others, such as most birds, live here only part of the time. But whatever the length of stay, all living things must adapt themselves to existing conditions at the time of their stay. If they cannot adapt to static or changing conditions they must move or become extinct.

Some 60 million years have passed since the dinosaurs ruled the world. In that time mountains have risen, wasted away, and risen again. Glaciers have come and gone. Many species of plants and animals evolved and passed on to extinction. Every life form meets the test—adapt or die. That test is as real to the dusty lizard basking on the quarry face as it was to the dinosaurs whose bones you came to see.

Key to Pronunciation

Dinosauria (dy-noh-SAWR-eea)
Antrodemus (an-troh-DEE-mus)
Apatosaurus (apato-SAWR-us)
Ankylosaurus (an-KEELOH-sawr-us)
Camptosaurus (camp-toh-SAWR-us)
Stegosaurus (steg-oh-SAWR-us)
Triceratops (try-SER-a-tops)
Archosauria (Ark-oh-SAWR-eea)
Mesozoic (MEZ-oh-zoh-ic)
Triassic (try-ASS-ic)
Jurassic (jur-ASS-ic)
Cretaceous (kre-TAY-shus)
Tyrannosaurus (ty-ran-oh-SARH-us)
Saurischia (sawr-ISS-key-a)
Ornithischia (orni-THISS-key-a)
Diplodocus (di-PLOD-icus)
Camarasaurus (camara-SAWR-us)
Protiguanodon (pro-teeg-GUAN-oh-don)

Suggested Readings

Andrews, Roy Chapman. All About Dinosaurs, 146 pp. Random House, New York. A very interesting book about dinosaurs and the men who study them. Children, 9-12 years old. Colbert, Edward H. Evolution of the Vertebrates, 479 pp. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 1955. A very readable account of vertebrate evolution for the student or serious amateur. —— ——. Dinosaurs, 4th ed., 32 pp. American Museum of Natural History, New York. 1957. A good brief treatment of all dinosaurs. Excellent illustrations. Dunbar, Carl O. Historical Geology, 567 pp. Wiley, New York. 1949. An excellent treatment of earth’s history and life from the beginning to the present. Life Editorial Staff. The World We Live In, 304 pp. Simon & Schuster, New York. 1955. Elaborately illustrated book about the world’s natural history.

Transcriber’s Notes