Learn about: Horned Lizards!

Photo by Jenny Venturo

In Westcliffe, Colorado, we saw a few horned lizards. They were slow and easy to catch. We looked at them closely, but we still don’t know what species they were. They could have been Texas Horned Lizards, San Luis Valley Horned Lizards, or some other kind of short horned lizard. We do know that they were in Genus Phrynosomatidae, which means “toad-bodied.”

Horned lizards are also called horned toads. The horns on the lizard’s head are the only true horns (true horns have a bony core). The other spines on its body are just how the scales are shaped.

Horned lizards use camouflage as their main defense. When one is threatened, it will run in short bursts and then stop, using its camouflage to confuse predators. If this fails, it will puff itself out to look large and hard to swallow.

Most horned lizards are able to shoot blood up to 5 feet from their eyes! First, they restrict blood from leaving their head. This makes their blood pressure rise. Then, they basically break a small blood vessel near their eye and the blood is released toward any predator. Most animals are confused or find that the blood tastes bad.

God is so great to make so many different kinds of animals with interesting mechanisms!

Want to Listen?

Information from: Wikipedia