Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

The Journal of California Anthropology

The Journal of California Anthropology bannerUC Merced

The Chuckwalla: A Death Valley Indian Food

Abstract

A favored though probably infrequent fare of the Death Valley Indians was the flesh of the chuckwalla (Sauromalus obesus), California's largest lizard. The capture of one of these creatures provided a good-sized meal, for a full-grown individual can attain a length of eighteen inches and a weight of two or three pounds.