Sauromalus Ater - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The common name "chuckwalla" (or chuckawalla) is derived from the Shoshone word "tcaxxwal" or "caxwal," the form used by the Cahuilla of southeastern California.

Its generic name, sauromalus, is a combination of two Ancient Greek words:σαῦρος (sauros) meaning "lizard". and ομαλυς (omalus) meaning "flat". Its specific name is ater, Latin for "black" or "dark"

Its original epithet was Sauromalus obesus; and although that name is no longer officially recognized, it is still very common in the literature and it remains in many standard natural history references for North America. In 1998, Bradford D. Hollingsworth examined variations in Sauromalus and concluded that only five species should be recognized. He regarded S. obesus as conspecific with S. ater, and he used S. ater, which has priority, as the specific name of the combined taxon. No subspecies of S. ater are currently recognized. Based primarily on the extensive use of the name S. obesus, a petition to give that name precedence over that of S. ater was submitted to the ICZN. However this reasoning was dubious and the priority of S. ater was maintained. In 2004, ICZN ruled that the name Sauromalus ater was first described by zoologist Auguste Duméril in 1856 and thus had precedence over the name Sauromalus obesus which was not named until 1858 by Baird.