Round-tailed Horned Lizard

Phrynosoma modestum

The Round-tailed Horned Lizard is one of the smaller species of horned lizard. Their specific epithet is from the Latin word ''modestum'', meaning modest or calm. They are found in the United States, in western Texas, New Mexico eastern Arizona, southeastern Colorado and eight states in northcentral Mexico where they are referred to as "''tapayaxtin''".
A Round-tailed Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma modestum) trying its best to look like a rock These cute little guys are extremely hard to distinguish from small rocks on the desert floor. Geotagged,Phrynosoma modestum,Spring,United States,roundtail horned lizard

Appearance

The color of Round-tailed Horned Lizard s usually reflects the color of the soil in their native habitat. Most are uniformly grey in color, but they can also be light brown, or even a pale yellow. Often, darker-colored regions occur around the neck and groin, and sometimes striping on the tail.

They are short, flat, round-bodied lizards with short limbs, and small heads, which have a distinctive crest of nearly equal-length horns. Unlike other horned lizards, they lack a fringe of lateral scales and do not seek to flatten themselves to the ground to eliminate shadow; instead, they hunch their bodies into the shape of a rock for camouflage, boldly casting a shadow.

Their maximum size is 7 cm snout-to-vent length, and 10.5 cm total length.

Habitat

Round-tailed Horned Lizards prefer a sandy, semiarid habitat with sparse vegetation, near harvester ant or especially honeypot ant colonies, which is their primary diet.

Reproduction

Round-tailed Horned Lizards are oviparous, breeding and laying eggs in early summer.

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyPhrynosomatidae
GenusPhrynosoma
SpeciesP. modestum
Photographed in
United States of America