What is "horned lizard"

Horned \Horned\,

1. Furnished with a horn or horns; furnished with a hornlike process or appendage; as, horned cattle; having some part shaped like a horn.

   The horned moon with one bright star Within the nether tip.
   --Coleridge.

   Horned bee (Zo["o]l.), a British wild bee ( Osmia bicornis), having two little horns on the head.

   Horned dace (Zo["o]l.), an American cyprinoid fish ( Semotilus corporialis) common in brooks and ponds; the common chu

2. See Illust. of Chub.

   Horned frog (Zo["o]l.), a very large Brazilian frog ( Ceratophrys cornuta), having a pair of triangular horns arising from the eyelids.

   Horned grebe (Zo["o]l.), a species of grebe ( Colymbus auritus), of Arctic Europe and America, having two dense tufts of feathers on the head.

   Horned horse (Zo["o]l.), the gnu.

   Horned lark (Zo["o]l.), the shore lark.

   Horned lizard (Zo["o]l.), the horned toad.

   Horned owl (Zo["o]l.), a large North American owl ( Bubo Virginianus), having a pair of elongated tufts of feathers on the head. Several distinct varieties are known; as, the Arctic, Western, dusky, and striped horned owls, differing in color, and inhabiting different regions; -- called also great horned owl, horn owl, eagle owl, and cat owl. Sometimes also applied to the long-eared owl. See Eared owl, under Eared.

   Horned poppy. (Bot.) See Horn poppy, under Horn.

   Horned pout (Zo["o]l.), an American fresh-water siluroid fish; the bullpout.

   Horned rattler (Zo["o]l.), a species of rattlesnake ( Crotalus cerastes), inhabiting the dry, sandy plains, from California to Mexico. It has a pair of triangular horns between the eyes; -- called also sidewinder.

   Horned ray (Zo["o]l.), the sea devil.

   Horned screamer (Zo["o]l.), the kamichi.

   Horned snake (Zo["o]l.), the cerastes.

   Horned toad (Zo["o]l.), any lizard of the genus Phrynosoma, of which nine or ten species are known. These lizards have several hornlike spines on the head, and a broad, flat body, covered with spiny scales. They inhabit the dry, sandy plains from California to Mexico and Texas. Called also horned lizard.

   Horned viper. (Zo["o]l.) See Cerastes.

n. Any of some 14 species of lizard in the genus (taxlink Phrynosoma genus noshow=1), generally with wide toad-shaped bodies less than a foot long, noted for the horny structures on their heads.

n. insectivorous lizard with hornlike spines on the head and spiny scales on the body; of western North America [syn: horned toad, horny frog]

Horned lizards are a genus (Phrynosoma) of lizards which are the type genus of the family Phrynosomatidae. The horned lizard has been affectionately called a "horny toad", or "horned frog", though they are not moist-skinned toads or frogs. The common names come from the lizard's flattened, rounded body and blunt snout, which make it resemble a toad or frog (Phrynosoma means "toad-bodied"), as well as its tendency, in common with larger true frogs and toads, to move sluggishly, making them easy to hand catch (such slow, undramatic movements may also avoid triggering attacks by predators, discussed later in this article). The spines on its back and sides are made from modified Reptile scales, whereas the horns on the heads are true horns (i.e. they have a bony core). Of 15 species of horned lizards in North America, eight are native to the United States. The largest-bodied and most widely distributed of the US species is the Texas horned lizard.

Horned lizards use a wide variety of means to avoid predation. Their coloration generally serves as camouflage. When threatened, their first defense is to remain still to avoid detection. If approached too closely, they generally run in short bursts and stop abruptly to confuse the predator's visual acuity. If this fails, they puff up their bodies to cause them to appear more horned and larger, so that they are more difficult to swallow. At least eight species (P. asio, P. cornutum, P. coronatum, P. ditmarsi, P. hernandesi, P. orbiculare, P. solare, and P. taurus) are also able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of the eyes for a distance of up to . They do this by restricting the blood flow leaving the head, thereby increasing blood pressure and rupturing tiny vessels around the eyelids. This not only confuses predators, but also the blood tastes foul to canine and feline predators. It appears to have no effect against predatory birds. Only three closely related species (P. mcallii, P. modestum, and P. platyrhinos) are certainly known to be unable to squirt blood. To avoid being picked up by the head or neck, a horned lizard ducks or elevates its head and orients its cranial horns straight up, or back. If a predator tries to take it by the body, the lizard drives that side of its body down into the ground so the predator cannot easily get its lower jaw underneath.