Greater short-horned lizard
A flat, spiky, dirt-colored lizard, sometimes called a horned toad, that can squirt blood from its eyes at a coyote and gives birth to live young.
Greater short-horned lizard at a glance
Phrynosoma hernandesi frin-oh-SOH-muh her-nan-DEH-see
- Type
- Reptile · lizards
- Diet
- Insectivore
- Size
- Adults are small, only 2 to 4 inches long — about the size of a AA battery.
- Lifespan
- Around 5 to 6 years in the wild.
- Conservation
- Least concern
Eats ants, beetles, bees, grasshoppers
It sits still, colored almost exactly like the dirt and gravel around it, and waits for ants and beetles to walk close before snapping them up.
Should you worry?
Not dangerous. It can't bite hard enough to hurt a person, and its blood-squirting defense is aimed at coyotes, foxes, and dogs, not people. It's a protected species in Colorado and Wyoming (Wyoming's state reptile), so admire it without picking it up or moving it.
Stop before you put your boot down: the fist-sized lump of gray dirt an inch from your foot has a tail, four legs, and a fringe of short spikes ringing its head. A greater short-horned lizard doesn’t run from a footstep the way most lizards do. It just sits there, flat and speckled and nearly the exact color of the gravel underneath it, betting that you won’t look twice.
Most predators don’t get a second chance to find out what happens when they do look twice. A coyote or a fox that closes in on one anyway gets a defense no bluff can match: the lizard builds up blood pressure in vessels behind its eyes and squirts a thin stream of blood straight at the attacker’s mouth. Dogs and their wild relatives react to the taste with something close to disgust, and most let go on the spot. It doesn’t need speed or a hiding spot if the animal that finally spots it decides on the first try that it isn’t worth a second one.
It has one more trick that has nothing to do with defense: instead of laying eggs, it carries them inside until they’re ready, then gives birth to as many as 48 fully formed babies at once. Wyoming made it the state reptile in part because it’s the only horned lizard the state has — reason enough to leave the spikes and the blood exactly where they are, and go looking for the next flat gray stone that might not be a stone at all.
Did you know?
- A greater short-horned lizard can squirt blood out of the corners of its eyes at a coyote or fox that gets too close — a taste so unpleasant to canines that many let go and back off.
- It gives birth to live young instead of laying eggs, sometimes close to 50 babies in one litter.
- Wyoming made it the state reptile in 1993, partly because it's the only horned lizard found there.
Common questions
Are greater short-horned lizards poisonous?
No. They have no venom and can't hurt a person by biting. Their real defense trick — squirting blood from their eyes — is aimed at coyotes and foxes, not people.
Why is it called a horned toad if it's a lizard?
Its flat, wide body and short tail make it look toad-shaped, so people started calling it a horned toad long ago, but it's a true lizard, not an amphibian.
How does a lizard squirt blood from its eyes?
It builds up blood pressure in vessels behind its eyes and forces a thin stream out through the corners at an attacking predator, mostly used against dogs, coyotes, and foxes.
Do greater short-horned lizards lay eggs?
No. The eggs hatch inside the mother, who gives birth to live babies, sometimes close to 50 at once.