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Texas horned lizard, horny toad

Phrynosoma cornutum

Photo by Duprasi
Published on Project Noah
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34.333, -103.726

Field Notes

Description:

The Texas horned lizard is the largest-bodied and most widely distributed of the approximately 14 species of horned lizards in the western United States and Mexico. The length of an average Texas horned lizard is 69 mm (2.7 in) snout-vent length, however the upper boundary for males is 94 mm (3.7 in) and for females it is 114 mm (4.5 in).

Key characteristics:
Single pair of occipital spines
Two rows of lateral abdominal fringe scales
Enlarged modified dorsal scales with 4 distinct keels
Single row of enlarged gular scales
Keeled non-mucronate ventral scales
Postrictal scale absent
White middorsal stripe

Habitat:

From central Kansas, extreme southwestern Missouri, and the southeastern corner of Colorado southward and westward throughout most of Oklahoma and Texas (including coastal barrier islands), southeastern half of New Mexico and southeastern corner of Arizona to Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, and Zacatecas.

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