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Phrynosoma cornotum
has a dorsolaterally flattened, toad-like body (Seymour and Royo 1996). Due to their unusual body shape body and short legs, they have been mistaken for an amphibian, hence the name "Texas Horned Toad." There are spines located on the head, along the sides of the body and down the tail (Bockstanz 1998). These spines are modified epidermal scales. At the back of the head, there are two elongated spines that look like horns (Seymour and Royo 1996). There are also spines located along the dorsal surface of the lizard (Bockstanz 1998). The ventral surface of the lizard is either gray or tan (Seymour and Royo 1996). The dorsal surface of the lizard is tan or gray with white and red or yellow highlights (Bockstanz 1998). There is a pattern of dark spots on the dorsal surface of the lizard, which correspond to the location of the dorsal spines (Bockstanz 1998). The length of an average Texas Horned Lizard is 69mm snout-vent length (Munger 1986), however the upper boundary for males is 94mm and for females it is 114mm (Munger 1984).
The Texas Horned Lizard lives mainly in sandy areas where it often inhabits abandoned animal burrows (Bockstanz 1998). The habitat of the Texas Horned Lizard is usually in close proximity to the nests of harvester ants (Seymour 1996). Biomes: Desert, grasslands, prairies, scrubland (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999)
Spotted on Oct 2, 2011
Submitted on Oct 2, 2011
