All the Facts & Info You Need To Know About The Coast Horned Lizard
The Coast Horned Lizard is a small but striking reptile that lives across the United States and Mexico. Its range stretches from southeast Colorado to southwest Missouri, east to northeast Sonora and southern Mexico, and south to Louisiana.
While the species is common throughout the western United States, it is also found in southern Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana.
Learn more about this species and how to spot it in your backyard.
Habitat
The Coast Horned Lizard is a phrynosomatid lizard native to the Baja California Sur region of Mexico.
It has an incredible ability to shoot blood streams at high pressure from its eyes. However, this ability may come at a cost, as these lizards are extremely sensitive to pressure.
They do not usually live near humans, which is unfortunate. They can be found only in Baja California Sur, where they are endemic.
The Coast Horned Lizard is a lizard with three subspecies. It is the only lizard in the world that can live in the coastal mountains and valleys of Southern California.
It lives in an expansive habitat with plenty of sunshine, sandy soils, and chaparral shrubs. Despite its widespread distribution, there are several threats to the species.
Here is a list of a few of the most common threats facing this species. The study found that 80% of the SMMNRA was suitable for the Coast Horned Lizard.
However, it found that there are some areas that are less suitable, even though they meet some habitat suitability criteria. In these areas, HMSAs covered an area of approximately 56 to 65% of the area.
Models 1 and 3 found similar percent areas, although model 2 had a higher HSA percentage than other models. This resulted from increased vegetation weighting.
Reproductive Effort
There are several studies on the reproductive effort of the Coast Horned Lizard. Among them is the study of the population of Sceloporus jarrovi in the Pinaleno Mountains of Arizona.
Other studies on the reproductive effort of other lizards have also been published in the Copeia, including those by Ruibal, R., Schall, J. J., and Greene, M. E., who studied four species of Cnemidophorus.
The reproductive effort of the Coast Horned Lizard is affected by a variety of factors. The size of oviductal eggs and newborn progeny vary considerably between species.
In some species, the clutch size is a small fraction of the female’s body mass. In others, the clutch size is much higher, at twenty to thirty percent.
This is particularly high in some species of North American horned lizards. The reproductive effort is correlated with various energetic measures and clutch size.
In the study of the Coast Horned Lizard, the reproductive effort of this species is correlated with its foraging and escape strategies from predators. However, the correlation coefficients are small but statistically significant.
The strongest correlation was between the logarithm of clutch size and the intercept of body temperature against air temperature, which is likely because the nocturnal lizards have small clutches and low intercept values.
Predators
The most likely predators of the Coast Horned Lizard are ants. These creatures can grow up to four inches in length and feed mostly on ants.
They are very effective at camouflage, changing color to blend in with the environment, and can even stay still and shoot a stream of blood six feet in the air.
The horned lizard is a common sight in areas where there is low brush, such as Carbon Canyon, the Laguna Coast Wilderness, and the Santa Ana Mountains.
Predators of the Coast Horned Lizard are mainly ants, predatory lizards, and birds. In addition to ants, the prey of this lizard includes other lizard species such as the Texas horned lizard.
The natural history of horned lizards has revealed that the lizards have diverse predators, including snakes, birds, canids, and other myrmecophagus.
The Coast Horned Lizard complex consists of 5 phylogeographic groups and three ecologically distinct species. The California species, Phrynosoma blainvillii, is one of these species.
There are three other species in Mexico and one in Canada. All of them have different characteristics, but they all share similar appearances and habitats.
It is a highly endangered species that is often subject to road mortality and is classified as a Federal Special Concern.
Population Declines
For the past 100 years, scientists have been trying to separate Coast Horned Lizard populations into different species.
The number of species is between one and six, depending on the author. Most previous studies relied almost exclusively on morphology, which can be tricky to separate based on their similarity.
Jimmy McGuire, an associate professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley, has done some research to try to separate the different populations.
This lizard is critically endangered in Texas. Though the species is thriving in West Texas, its population numbers have dropped significantly in Central and East Texas.
This population decline was confirmed when Texas Parks and Wildlife classified this species as threatened. During the study, researchers found that a study of hatchling survival was the most important factor in determining the population growth rate.
The study concluded that hatchling survival must be monitored to determine the extent to which this factor contributes to the population’s survival.
The coastal horned lizard’s declining population is another warning for landowners. In addition to reducing the number of lizards, enacting habitat management practices can benefit other wildlife in the area.
Native plants will also benefit other species, such as bobwhite quail, which share similar habitat requirements. Furthermore, habitat management processes will also benefit surrounding bodies of water.
Native plants help prevent erosion and promote groundwater infiltration. Ultimately, the entire ecosystem will benefit.
Coloration
The Coast Horned Lizard’s coloration is one of its most distinctive characteristics.
The lizard’s flat profile and disruptive coloration make it difficult for predators to detect its shadow. These characteristics enable the lizard to change its color to blend in with its surroundings.
This lizard’s horns, which are usually black, swivel backward and can stab a predator in the head. While ants make up half of its diet, other insects and small vertebrate animals are also part of the diet.
The coloration of this lizard varies greatly depending on its habitat. Throughout mainland California, it is generally brown with reddish-brown patches.
During the breeding season, this species gets even brighter in color. The horns are dark, which makes it difficult for it to hide in vegetation. While the lizard is a small species, it can grow to be up to five inches in length.
The Texas horned lizard is common across much of North America and southern Mexico. It reaches sexual maturity in late autumn, with females reaching a length of 69 mm.
The male’s mass varies from 25 to 90 grams. The lizard’s snout-vent length is approximately 69 mm, and its mass is between 25 and 90 grams. Its short, round body and large horns make it difficult to detect predators.
Social Behavior
The social behavior of the Coast Horned Lizard is not entirely clear.
It is possible that some individuals may not interact with others in the same habitat. Interestingly, some individuals appear to interact with their neighbors in a social way.
The results of one study suggested that a single individual can make a difference to the population. A study by Leache and Munger, co-authors of the paper, found that individuals in a particular habitat are more likely to mate with one another.
In order to escape from a potential predator, the Coast Horned Lizard will increase the pressure on its head. It will then shoot out blood from four feet, making it extremely difficult to chase a predator.
This species is a Federally and Californian Special Concern, and the California Department of Fish and Game has taken steps to protect it. Unfortunately, there is a threat of extinction for the subspecies blainvillii, which may be extinct in 45% of its range.
Adult lizards will often sit on high vantage points and bobble their heads as they hunt for insects. During the hot afternoons, they will seek shelter under a rock.
The female will lay her eggs at night. The lizards communicate with one another by swaying their front portions, which attracts other members of the population.
In addition, the lizards often carry sand and other light debris in their stomachs to blend in with the surrounding environment.
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