Horned Lizard Book

LOCALGEOGRAPHIC Horned Lizard WITH ITS INCREDIBLE BODY By Marcus Albrecht March 7th, 2016

Table of Contents1. Introduction • Description of Horned Lizard • Classification and Latin Name2. Habitat • Map Where They Live • Desert Habitat3. Adaptation • Camouflage • Shooting Blood • Puffing Up4. Food • Diet • Food Web 5. Reproduction and Family6. Human Impact7. Interesting Facts8. Bibliography9. Glossary

1. IntroductionDescription of Horned Lizard Protective Sharp horns with spines all over a bony core the body Body that is flat and that resembles large toadsFlat short tail Clawed toes for but very wide digging or keeping grip on the ground.The horned lizard is brown creature that has spikes all over his body. His chest is flat with spikes all over but their just allot smaller. He has very sharp claws to dig holes and to keep grip on the ground. Some people call horned lizards a horned toad because they have a blunt nose and a flat squat body and stubbylegs just like a toad.

Classification and Latin NameHere is the Horned Lizard classification. The horned lizard is part of the animal kingdom ”Animalia”. It belongs to the “Phylum Chordata” which means has a spinal chord. The honed lizard is a in the “Class Reptilla” which means it’s a reptile. Reptiles are known to lay eggs and they are cold blooded. They also are in the “Order Squamata” which means they have scaly skin. They are In the ”Family Phrynosomatidae” which means they adapt to life in hot deserts. Horned lizards are part of “Order Phrynosoma”. Phrynosoma means toad body because they flat round body and a blunt nose. There are over 17 species of horned lizards. I have listed some below. HORNED LIZARD Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilla Order: Squamata Family: Phrynosomatidae Genus: Phrynosoma Species: Modestum, M’calli, Solare, Conturnum, Douglassi, etc

2. HabitatMap Where They LiveHorned lizards live in Canada ,United States and South America,Horned lizards live in the the colored space on the map. Habitats include deserts, prairies and plains

Desert HabitatThis reptile the Horned lizard lives in the desert. Thedesert is a sandy habitat. The desert is hard to live inbecause it does not have much rainfall or none. manyanimals live in the desert. The desert covers up 20% ofthe world.The desert is hot and sometimes cold. A desert only has a few animals in it and only a few plants. Other animals, plants would die of quickly because there is not enough water for them.Most of the animals are nocturnal in the desert nocturnal means sleep at day and wake up at night because its so hot at morning and cold at night. On the other side horned lizards are diurnal which means active at morning and sleeps at night. The horned lizard keeps itself in a cool temperature by sheltering under soil and rock In the fall the horned lizard hibernates by burying itself inthe sand. And camouflaging so they don’t get disturbed.When they wake up it is spring when the temperature iswarm again.

3. Adaptation- CamouflageThe overall colors of the Horned lizard are grayish with various bits of black, brown or tan. The coloring depends their surroundings. Horned lizards adapt to the desert floor because they camouflage themselves. They can change their skin in different colors within minutes when enemies come. the horned lizard is very motionless so predators cant see or hear them

Adaptation –Blood ShootingSome species of horned lizards can shoot blood from their eyes. When the horned lizards are attacked they scare their enemy's by shooting blood. They shoot blood from the corner of their eyes to over one meter which is 3 feet. The blood that the horned lizards shoot are noxious to dogs, coyotes and wolves

Adaptation –Puffing UpThe horned lizard can puff itself up so their predators cant bite them as well. When the horned lizard puffs itself up it doubles the size of its body. When the predator would try to bite them the spiny scales would pierce their throat or the stomach.

4. Food - DietThe horned lizard is a carnivore that usually feeds on invertebrates like ants, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, worms, flies, lady bugs, meal worms and some plant material. They wait by ant hills for ants to pass by. They can eat to 20 ants to 100 ants a day.

Food WebCoyote Hawk Wolf DogSnake Horned lizard Beetle Ant GrasshopperSun Seeds Plants GrassA food web shows what eats what in nature. First the sun shines and grows plants. Than the a ants grasshopper and beetles eat the plants and seeds. Than the horned lizard eats the ants grasshopper and beetles, and than the horned lizards predators come snakes dogs wolves coyotes and then hawks

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6. Human ImpactHabitat destruction has endangered horned lizards. Humans have moved Into the desert . They also kill insects such ants so there’s a lower population of ants to eat for horned lizards. Humans have pets like dogs that eat horned lizards. Also humans capture them as pets to sell them overall this has reduced the population of Horned lizards

7. Interesting Facts1. Horned lizards can shoot blood from the back of their eyes when they are threatened. The horned lizards blood is unpleasant to mammals because The horned lizard eat so many venomous harvester ants.2. A very cool fact about the horned lizard is that its immune to the venomous harvester ants. Before the horned lizard eats its meal he cover the ants with mucus to prevent the ants to sting them3. Horned Lizards are small and light weight animals. Large adults can be about 10 cm long, but many other are smaller. Which means a adult horny toad can easily fit in the palm of a child's hand.

8. GlossaryWords Definitionintimidatingblunt To make someone afraidsquat Having a thick edge or pointstubby To crouch or sit on the groundviviparous short and thick producing living young instead of eggsdiminished to become less in size, importance, etc.extensive plains very full or completeprairies a large area of flat land without trees a large, mostly flat area of land in North America that has nocturnal few trees and is covered in grassesdiurnal Sleeps in the morning and wakes at nighthibernate Sleeps in the evening and wakes at in the morningcamouflage Sleeps throughout the winter To change ones appearance and blend into surroundingsmotionlessnoxious not moving at allspiny physically harmful or destructive to living beingsinvertebrates having or covered with many sharp, pointed partshatchlings Animals that don’t have a back bone or spine a recently hatched animal : a very young bird, fish, etc., destruction that has just come out from an egg the act or process of damaging something so badly that it reduced no longer exists or cannot be repaired smaller in size, amount, number,

9. Bibliography\"Horned Lizard.\" Animal Facts and Information.Bioexpedition, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.\"Horned Lizard.\" Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d.Web. 09 Mar. 2016.\"Horned Lizards.\" , Horny Toads. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar.2016.\"Horned Lizards.\" Horned Lizard Conservation Society.N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.\"Horned Toads (Short-Horned Lizard) Facts - NationalGeographic.\" National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 09Mar. 2016.\"If It Has To, a Horned Lizard Can Shoot Blood from ItsEyes.\" BBC. BBC Earth, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.Seymour, George. \"Horned Lizards.\" , Horny Toads.Desert USA, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.\"Short-horned Lizard.\" Facts for Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 09Mar. 2016.\"Texas Horned Lizard.\" Outdoor Alabama. N.p., 16 July2014. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.

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