Yanez's Lava Lizard (Microlophus yanezi)

Desembocadura Rio Lluta, Arica, Chile. Feb 20, 2024

comments (10)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

A Chile adventure, what a nice surprise. We have few photos from there so by all means don't hold back :)
Stunning photo and species, by the way! Posted one year ago
1. Thibaud Aronson
  
  Lion
  
  Yes it was fun! I've got more stuff coming from the Santiago region, with lots of endemics, including a few nice lizards :) Posted one year ago, modified one year ago
2. 1. John Sullivan
    
    Lion
    
    More nice lizards, please! This one is a beautiful portrait. Posted one year ago
  2. 1. Thibaud Aronson
      
      Lion
      
      Coming soon! Posted one year ago
    2. Thibaud Aronson
      
      Lion
      
      Starting off slow:
      
      Posted one year ago

Christine Young

Lion

Probably one of the only things that I remember from middle school geography is that Arica, Chile is the driest place on earth. Posted one year ago
1. Thibaud Aronson
  
  Lion
  
  Yup, the coastal part of the Atacama desert is easily the bleakest natural landscape I've ever seen. It doesn't even have the kind of harsh beauty that other deserts have (or the high elevation parts of that same desert, which at least have some cool geological formations).
  Just an endless, completely flat, brownish gray expanse, without a single trace of life (though of course there is some if you know where to look).
  Picture an empty plot recently cleared before building a parking lot or something, except it goes on like that for over a thousand miles... Posted one year ago, modified one year ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    Amazing. Surviving life in a rain shadow would be a challenge for much of nature. It must have been a fascinating place to visit, though -- much like I would imagine an alien landscape to be. An non-fun fact is that the Atacama desert has a huge amount of dumped clothing. Apparently, the pile is visible from space. Posted one year ago
  2. 1. Thibaud Aronson
      
      Lion
      
      Charming humans, as usual... I did not see the clothing pile, fortunately
      As for Arica, it was interesting, but that desert in itself is really dull. I had much more fun a few days later in Moquegua, on the Peruvian side, in the very high desert (14000 ft), where we went looking for a particularly emblematic species. Photos to come... Posted one year ago
    2. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Can't wait to see the coming photos! Posted one year ago

The Yanez's lava lizard

"Microlophus yanezi", commonly called Yanez's lava lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Tropiduridae. The species is endemic to the Chilean Matorral within the nation of Chile.

Info 1 0

Similar species: Snakes And Lizards

Species identified by Thibaud Aronson

By Thibaud Aronson

Uploaded Feb 28, 2024. Captured Feb 20, 2024 09:09 in HMMH+C2 Arica, Chile.

Explore Chile 144 122 0

Canon EOS R6
f/18.0
1/1250s
ISO1250
599mm

Captured in the summer. More summer photos.