The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. The largest cities by metropolitan area are Phoenix, Las Vegas, El Paso, Albuquerque, and Tucson. Before 1848, in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México as well as parts of Alta California and Coahuila y Tejas, settlement was almost non-existent outside of Nuevo México's Pueblos and Spanish or Mexican municipalities. Much of the area had been a part of New Spain and Mexico until the United States acquired the area through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and the smaller Gadsden Purchase in 1854.
The horned lark or shore lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found across the northern hemisphere. It is known as "horned lark" in North America and "shore lark" in Europe.
The willow flycatcher is a small insect-eating, neotropical migrant bird of the tyrant flycatcher family native to North America.
Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus Quercus that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are generally not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks.
The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about 162 miles (261 km) long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park.
The Mexican jay formerly known as the gray-breasted jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States. In May 2011, the American Ornithologists' Union voted to split the Mexican jay into two species, one retaining the common name Mexican jay and one called the Transvolcanic jay. The Mexican jay is a medium-sized jay with blue upper parts and pale gray underparts. It resembles the Woodhouse's scrub-jay, but has an unstreaked throat and breast. It feeds largely on acorns and pine nuts, but includes many other plant and animal foods in its diet. It has a cooperative breeding system where the parents are assisted by other birds to raise their young. This is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Cupressus arizonica, the Arizona cypress, is a North American species of tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Populations may be scattered rather than in large, dense stands.
Mearns's grasshopper mouse or the Chihuahuan grasshopper mouse is a grasshopper mouse found in southwestern New Mexico, West Texas, and north-central Mexico. They are similar to Onychomys torridus, but differ in karyotype and size. This mouse is smaller in every regard except for the nasal length of the skull.
Aridoamerica denotes an ecological region spanning Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States, defined by the presence of the culturally significant staple foodstuff Phaseolus acutifolius, a drought-resistant bean. Its dry, arid climate and geography stand in contrast to the verdant Mesoamerica of present-day central Mexico into Central America to the south and east, and the higher, milder "island" of Oasisamerica to the north. Aridoamerica overlaps with both.
Tantilla hobartsmithi, commonly known as the southwestern blackhead snake, is a species of small colubrid snake native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
The hooded skunk is a species of mammal in the family Mephitidae. Mephītis in Latin means "foul odor", μακρός (makrós) in Greek translates to "long" and οὐρά (ourá) translates to "tail".
Juniperus deppeana is a small to medium-sized tree reaching 10–15 metres in height. It is native to central and northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.
The western yellow bat is a species of vesper bat found in Mexico and the southwestern United States. This species roosts in trees such as Populus fremontii, Platanus wrightii, and Quercus arizonica. If available, the western yellow bat will use the dead fronds that encircle palm trees as a roosting site.
The southwestern myotis is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States.
Nelson's woodrat is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is endemic to Mexico, where it is known only from the eastern slopes of the volcanoes Orizaba and Cofre de Perote. Due to the small geographic range, isolation, and low population, the Nelson's woodrat has a higher risk for extinction. The distribution and population sizes are small. The population exists in geographic isolation, which prevents gene flow
The dwarf shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae endemic to Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming in the United States. The type locality is Estes Park, Colorado, USA.
Arbutus xalapensis, commonly known as the Texas madrone, Amazaquitl, or Texas madroño, is a species of flowering plant in the heather family. It is native to Central America, the southwestern United States, and throughout Mexico. It is found in canyons and mountains, on rocky plains, and in oak woodlands, at altitudes of up to 3,000 m in the south of the range, but lower, down to 600 m in the north of the range.
Apachesaurus is an extinct genus of metoposaurid temnospondyl amphibian from western North America.
The Arizona myotis or southwestern little brown myotis is a vesper bat species inhabiting much of the southwestern United States and central Mexico as far south as the Distrito Federal.
