Natural Environment Reference

Bobcats are a mid-sized wild cat named for their bobbed tails. They have pointed ears and are about double the size of a domesticated housecat. Bobcats live all over North America and are rarely seen by humans because of their nocturnal and elusive nature. They live in a variety of environments including swamps, deserts, and even developed areas.

Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), also known as datura, Devil's snare, and thorn apple, is a hallucinogenic plant often used to facilitate vision and spirit quests as part of traditional ceremonies, but it has also been used medicinally to treat asthma symptoms. TJimsonweed is an annual herbaceous plant with white or violet flowers and grows up to 6.5 feet in height.

A term in microbiology referring to the propagation of bacterial colonies of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially-prepared nutritional environment.

Although this term can refer to any animal that is within its first or second year of life, it is typically used to refer to a young horse.

Creosote bush, also known as greasewood, is the common name for a genus of bushes known as Larrea. This evergreen bush can be found in hot and dry regions throughout the U.S. Creosote can live up to 100 years and is known for its astringent odor, especially when wet or burning. For many desert dwellers, the scent of wet creosote bush is a scent associated with the summer monsoons, a welcome perfume that can almost overwhelm the senses on a humid afternoon.

Crickets are insects that have long antennae and powerful legs adapted for leaping. The males produce a shrill chirping sound by rubbing their front wings together to attract female crickets, a sound with cultural resonance all over the world.

A variety of chalcedony, a type of quartz. Agate is a very hard stone valued for its bands of color. One kind of agate for which the Southwest is particularly well-known is petrified wood agate, much of which can be viewed at Petrified Forest National Park, due west of the Zuni Reservation.

Igneous rock occurs both above and below the earth's surface. Intrusive igneous rock forms under the earth's surface when magma cools and hardens. As a result of its slow cooling process, intrusive igneous rock, such as granite, forms large crystals, which can be seen with the naked eye. Extrusive igneous rock forms when magma erupts as lava onto the earth's surface and cools quickly, forming small crystals. Basalt is one of the most common forms of extrusive igneous rock.

In the U.S. Southwest, intrusive and extrusive igneous rock can be found. Intrusive igneous rock is revealed in many of the monumental buttes, spires, cliffs, and mountains that comprise some of the dramatic scenery of the Southwest landscape, especially as softer materials erode away from the more durable rock component beneath. Intrusive igneous rock can be found in the surface lava flows and cinder cones that surround the numerous fields of extinct volcanoes in the region, such as those that comprise portions of El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico.

There are approximately 6,000 species of lizard, a diverse group of reptiles which are classified as part of the subgroup "lacertilia," distinguishing them as relatives to snakes. Reptiles are cold-blooded, carnivorous animals who generally lay eggs and shed their skins in a process called molting. Lizards have very strong eyesight, and many of them can shed and regenerate their tails as a defense mechanism against predators. In addition, many lizards prey on insects and arthropods, making them useful allies in pest control.

The Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research has identified 169 species within the U.S. Southwest alone, six of which have been introduced, meaning that these six species are considered non-native, or invasive, to the region.

Used to describe the climate of a particular geographic location. Arid landscapes are devoid of water, lack abundant moisture in the air, and often appear as a parched, barren environment. However, many arid environments are teeming with lifeforms, because aridity contributes to specific floral and faunal adaptions in the natural environment.