A Horn by Any Other Name…

Names are incredibly important. They give us a lot of information. For example the sidewinder’s name matches it’s main form of locomotion, names can be geographical like the Sonoran desert toad, or can be a description of a defining feature like for horned lizards, see below the greater short-horned lizard, Phrynosoma hernandesi, who you’re looking for tonight . However through the years, horned lizards horns have been called lots of things like “thorny eminences” or “spines” or even “tuberculous knobs.” All of these names have definitions (don’t ask me about the tuberculous knobs, ask the folks who wrote the paper) but which one actually, factually, applies to horned lizards?

The short answer is “horns!”

Powell and Russell found that horns is the most commonly used terminology in the English language however, it does not hold a lot of taxonomic value currently. Research is still being done to understand the evolution of horns. It is believed that the common ancestor of all horned lizards once had the full number of horns however as the different species evolved, environmental factors impacted what the final number, shape, and sized horns each species had.

Generally the horns are thought to be an important defensive mechanism.

Even still, they can’t defend against your eyes as I’m sure you’ll all #FindThatLizard tonight!

If you do let me know in the comments with …

#FoundThatLizard!