ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
BULLETIN 
Published by the New York Zoological Society 
Volume XXVI MARCH, 1923 Number 2 
REPTILES OE THE SOUTHWEST 
By Raymond L. Ditmars 
Illustrations from photographs by the Author. 
A VAST area of desert occupies the south¬ 
western portion of the United States, its 
broad, solemn expanses extending north¬ 
ward through Nevada. A desert unlike any 
other in the world. Its far flung boundaries may 
be likened to a gigantic frame, encompassing 
row upon row of scenes of the utmost grandeur 
and loveliness. To the east are the Rockies, the 
sweeping mesas and the region of indescribable 
colors, eroded gorges and canyons, where rivers 
have cut their way deeply through the pages of 
Time. The western side of the frame is no less 
majestic. Here are the snow-capped Sierras 
and the long, narrow state of California, its 
climate mellowed by the soft air of the Pacific. 
Just west of the southerly end of the mountain 
boundary are the orange groves—enchanting 
miles of them and only a few hours travel 
through the passes directly into the desert itself. 
Our great desert areas differ from those of 
other lands in possessing a diversity of surface. 
There are tremendous areas of sand; but rising 
in thousands of scattered points, some irreg¬ 
ularly, others in waves and ranges, are table¬ 
lands and mountains with predominating sur¬ 
faces of shattered rock and ancient lava. That 
the sandy reaches are rich in the elements 
that support plant life is apparent in areas 
where a few showers occur in the winter and 
spring. These areas are usually near the chains 
of rocky upthrusts, or foothills of the marginal 
ranges, and here the characteristic desert flora 
flourishes in a variety of fascinating forms. 
Stretching away from these garden spots, which 
break into a profusion of flowers for one brief 
period each year—the spring—are the solemn 
wastes. The cessation of plant life towards the 
barren sands is marked by the tenacious sage, 
in round and regular patches, as equally spaced 
as if distributed over a vast plantation, thence 
becoming smaller and farther apart in an ex¬ 
panse of sand like the surface of the sea. 
Throughout this desert world there is charac¬ 
teristic animal life, strange, marvellously 
adapted for this unique environment of white- 
hot sun and lack of water. In order to exist 
a great part of their lives without shelter or re¬ 
treat, the desert animals have passed through 
evolutionary processes far more remarkable than 
animal life of the fields and thickets. 
One of the best bases for approach into typi¬ 
cally American desert is San Bernardino, Cali¬ 
fornia—in the heart of the orange grove region. 
Behind the city rise the San Bernardino Moun¬ 
tains with several of the peaks over 10,000 
feet elevation. There are two gateways into the 
desert, one leading into the Mohave and the 
other to the great reaches that stretch away into 
Arizona. Each is quite distinct in its novelties. 
The gateway into the Mohave ascends the San 
Bernardino range by a superb auto road. A 
tangle of peaks and precipitous canyons greets 
the eye during the gradual climb, but upon 
reaching the top of the grade there is a view 
of sterile hills and eroded gorges that causes 
the spectator to gasp in wonder. As the car 
tops the completion of the ascent and begins 
a gradual coast down grade, the change of flora 
is as abrupt as if one were entering a botanical 
garden. Desert sage of various heights and 
forms and in hues from blue to pale green and 
gray springs into view in scattered patches until 
it dominates the flora, but mixed with it are 
patches of greasewood eight and ten feet high, 
and then in silhouette against the sky come the 
spectral tree yuccas, the only home of a curious 
little lizard with soft, granular skin. 
[23] 
