horned lizard

Home > ... > Plants and Animals > Animals > Vertebrate Zoology > ...

horned lizard

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

horned lizard or horned toad, broad, flat-bodied lizards of the genus Phrynosoma, found in arid regions from extreme SW Canada to Guatemala. There are several species in the United States W of the Mississippi. The body is 3 to 5 in. (7.6 to 12.7 cm) long; it has a short, thin tail, a short neck, and short legs. There are spines on the head, sides, and back. Horned lizards are protectively colored, usually in dull grays and browns. They feed on insects, especially ants, and are often found buried in the sand, with only their heads exposed. In some species the female lays eggs; in others the eggs are incubated internally and the young are born alive. When alarmed, members of some species eject a thin stream of blood from the nictitating membrane of the eye for a distance of several feet. Horned lizards are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Squamata, family Iguanidae.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-hornedli" title="Facts and information about horned lizard">horned lizard</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"horned lizard." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"horned lizard." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 6, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-hornedli.html

"horned lizard." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 06, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-hornedli.html

Learn more about citation styles

horned toad

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

horned toad • n. 1. another term for horned lizard. 2. a large toad with horn-shaped projections of skin over the eyes, in particular a Southeast Asian toad (Megophrys and other genera, family Peltobatidae) and a South American toad (Ceratophrys and other genera, family Leptodactylidae).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O999-hornedtoad" title="Facts and information about horned lizard">horned lizard</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"horned toad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"horned toad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (December 6, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hornedtoad.html

"horned toad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved December 06, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hornedtoad.html

Learn more about citation styles

horned lizards

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

horned lizards (Phyrnosoma) See IGUANIDAE.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O8-hornedlizards" title="Facts and information about horned lizard">horned lizard</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

MICHAEL ALLABY. "horned lizards." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "horned lizards." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (December 6, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-hornedlizards.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "horned lizards." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved December 06, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-hornedlizards.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Have backpack, will travel: scientists use backpacks to track Texas horned lizard.
Magazine article from: Airman; 6/1/2004
Free Article Bees and the Lane Mountain Milk-vetch.(PARTNERS FOR POLLINATORS)
Magazine article from: Endangered Species Bulletin; 11/1/2006
Free Article The cost of "saving": you take it, you pay for it. (costs of environmental regulation)
Magazine article from: American Forests; 11/1/1993

Facts and information from other sites

Related topics

  Edit this list

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

CROSS PLAINS KIDS ENDURE WILDFIRES, RALLY TO WIN HORNED LIZARD ESSAY CONTEST
News Wire article from: US Fed News Service, Including US State News; 4/24/2006; 700+ words ; ...facts, and memories of the horned lizard in the local region. The essays...explanations as to when and why the horned lizards are disappearing. The most common accounts state the horned lizard began declining in the 1970s...
Proliferation of Argentine Ants in California Linked to Declines in Coastal Horned Lizards.
News Wire article from: Ascribe Higher Education News Service; 2/26/2002; 700+ words ; ...that the baby horned lizards grow normally. "A comparison...classes of coastal horned lizards suggests a diversity...necessary to support lizard populations," write...Applications. "The diet of horned lizards changes as they get bigger...
For the Love of a Horned Lizard.(wildlife protection efforts)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: National Wildlife; 8/1/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...biologists to save the lizards before they disappear...decline of Texas horned lizard numbers over the...an ongoing state horned lizard census. Near Laredo...more about the lizards by fitting them...footprints of 40 horned lizards using fluorescent...citizens to report ...
Ecology and Ontogenetic Variation of Diet in the Pigmy Short-Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma douglasii)
Magazine article from: The American Midland Naturalist; 4/1/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...short-horned lizards, P. douglasii...myrmecophagous horned lizard species, followed...2006). Most horned lizards from the long-homed lizard clade are considered...morphologies among lizards in the short-horned lizard clade associated...
Great horned toads: Texas lizard is the stuff of Lone Star State legends.
Newspaper article from: Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX); 8/29/2006; 700+ words ; ...Also, the horned lizard can puff up to make...roadrunner's next meal. Horned lizards' diets are predominantly...grasshoppers. The Texas horned lizard has the stuff for which...began in 1897, when a horned lizard was placed in...
Have backpack, will travel: scientists use backpacks to track Texas horned lizard.
Magazine article from: Airman; 6/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...the services of the horned lizard to carry their part...are strapped onto the horned lizards to monitor their comings...backpack-equipped horned lizards, they hope to uncover...backpacks to track the Texas horned lizard, researchers at Tinker...
NOTES ON REPRODUCTION IN TWO SPECIES OF HORNED LIZARD (PHRYNOSOMA) IN NORTHERN UTAH AND SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO.(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science; 6/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...Science, 36.1:1-3. The desert horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos Girard) and the smaller short-horned lizard (P douglassi Bell) both occur...reproductive activity of these two horned lizards. Generally P platyrhinos is poorly...
California's horned lizard is actually 3 species.
News Wire article from: Asian News International; 7/22/2009; 700+ words ; ...conservation efforts, because coast horned lizard populations are in decline from...because even well studied groups like horned lizards are likely to be comprised of multiple...millions of years, populations of horned lizards migrating northward have...
Spatial and seasonal dietary patterns of the desert horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos): harvester ant specialist or generalist ant feeder?(Report)
Magazine article from: Canadian Journal of Zoology; 2/1/2009; ; 700+ words ; ...specialization in which horned lizards prey only on particular...not all studies of horned lizard diets concur (e.g...interested in evaluating horned lizard specialization on this...proportions in scats of horned lizards during preliminary diet...
FOR HORNED LIZARD, HORNS ALONE DO NOT MAKE SPECIES
News Wire article from: US Fed News Service, Including US State News; 7/22/2009; 597 words ; ...harvester ants, the favored diet of the lizards. The lizard is on the International Union for Conservation...Species, as are California's two other horned lizards, the desert and flat-tailed horned lizards.For more information please contact...
Click to see an enlarged picture
horned lizard. (Image by Ben Goodwyn, GFDL)

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Current horned lizard News: