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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Phrynosomatidae  

Texas Horned Lizard
Phrynosoma cornutum (Harlan, 1825)
FRY-noh-SOH-mah — kor-NEW-tum

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Williams et al. (2019, PeerJ 7(e7746): 28) and Finger et al. (2022, Genome Biology and Evolution 14: evab260) found evidence from mtDNA, microsatellites, and genotyping-by-sequencing data for three primary and largely allopatric populations of Texas Horned Lizards in the Chihuahuan Desert, the Great Plains, and the southern Coastal Plain of the United States. Although they did not recognize these populations taxonomically, their demographic analyses indicate that the three populations are incompletely separated lineages. The earliest divergence is between the western (Chihuahuan Desert) and the two eastern populations. It corresponds to the divergence between the two primary mtDNA clades found by those authors and by Köhler (2021, Taxonomy 1: 83–115), who recognized them as subspecies. (de Queiroz, Kevin and Lauren M. Chan. 2025. Squamata (excluding snakes) – Lizards. Pages 23-37 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

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Occurrences:; 18,422 Total; 10,217 Museum; 8,205 Other
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Alabama Arizona Arkansas Colorado Georgia Kansas Louisiana Missouri New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Texas

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its toad-like shape and prominent cranial horns.
Phrynosoma — From Greek phrynos (φρῦνος), meaning “toad,” and sōma (σῶμα), meaning “body,” referring to the toad-like, squat appearance of these lizards.
cornutum — From Latin cornutus, meaning “horned,” referring to the large, pointed horns at the back of the skull.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Orbicular Lizard (Phrynosoma cornuta: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); Horned Toad Lizard (Phrynosoma cornuta: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); Orbicular Lizard (Agama cornuta: Griffith, Edward and Edward Pidgeon. 1831. The class reptilia arranged by the Baron Cuvier, with specific descriptions. Part 2. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London. 1-481pp.); Texian Tapayaxin (Phrynosoma cornutum: England, Royal College of Surgeons of. 1859. Descriptive catalogue of the specimens of natural history in spirit contained in the Museum of the Royal college of surgeons of England. Vertebrata: Pisces, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia. Taylor and Francis, London, England. pp.); Four-horned Frog (Phrynosoma cornutum: England, Royal College of Surgeons of. 1859. Descriptive catalogue of the specimens of natural history in spirit contained in the Museum of the Royal college of surgeons of England. Vertebrata: Pisces, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia. Taylor and Francis, London, England. pp.); Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum: Yarrow, Henry C. 1876. List of Skeletons and Crania in the Section of Comparative Anatomy of the United States Army Medical Museum for use during the International Exhibition of 1876 in Connection with the Representation of the Medical Department U.S. Army. Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. pp.); Spiny-breasted Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Horned Toad (Phrynosoma cornutum: Rhoads, Samuel N. 1895. Contributions to the zoology of Tennessee. No. 1, Reptiles and amphibians. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 47():376-407); Common Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornuta: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Horntoad (Phrynosoma cornutum: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Texas Horned Toad (Phrynosoma cornutum: Denburgh, Van, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Common Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum: Brennan, Lawrence A. 1934. A check list of the amphibians and reptiles of Ellis County, Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37():189-191); Horned Toad (Phrynosoma cornutum: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1825 Harlan, Richard. Description of a new species of Agama. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 4:296-304
1932 Burt, Charles E. The status of the horned lizard Phrynosoma brevicornis, described from Texas by E. G. Boulenger (1916). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 45:73-74
1952 Reeve, Wayne L. Taxonomy and distribution of the horned lizards genus Phrynosoma. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 34(14):817-960
1955 Allen, E. Ross and Wilfred T. Neill. Establishment of the Texas Horned Toad, Phrynosoma cornutum, in Florida. Copeia 1955(1):63-64
1963 Lynn, R. T. Comparative behavior of the horned lizards, genus Phrynosoma, of the United States. Dissertation. University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. 76pp.
1965 Lynn, R. T. A comparative study of the display behavior in Phrynosoma (Iguanidae). Southwestern Naturalist 10(1):25-30
1987 Montanucci, Richard R. A phylogenetic study of the horned lizards, genus Phrynosoma, based on skeletal and external morphology. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science (390):1-36
1990 Price, Andrew H. Phrynosoma cornutum. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (469):1-7
1993 Wiens, John J. Phylogenetic relationships of phrynosomatid lizards and monophyly of the Sceloporus group. Copeia 1993(2):287-299
1995 Sattler, Paul W. and J. Scott Ries. Intraspecific genetic variation among four populations of the Texas Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum. Journal of Herpetology 29(1):137-141
1996 Dundee, Harold A. Some reallocations of type localities of reptiles and amphibians described from the Major Stephen H. Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, with comments on some of the statements made in the account written by Edwin James. Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 30:75–89
1996 Montanucci, Richard R. Morphological variation in the gular fold in the horned lizard genus Phrynosoma (Iguania: Phrynosomatidae). Herpetologica 52(1):46-55
2001 Reeder, Tod W., and Richard R. Montanucci. Phylogenetic analysis of the horned lizards (Phrynosomatidae: Phrynosoma): Evidence from mitochondrial DNA and morphology. Copeia 2001(2):309-323
2003 Montgomery, Chad E. and Stephen P. Mackessy. Natural history of the Texas Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum (Phrynosomatidae), in southeastern Colorado. Southwestern Naturalist 48(1):111-118
2004 Hodges, Wendy L. Evolution of viviparity in horned lizards (Phrynosoma): Testing the cold-climate hypothesis. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17:1230–1237
2004 Sherbrooke, Wade C. and George A. Middendorf III Responses of Kit Foxes (Vulpes macrotis) to antipredator blood-squirting and blood of Texas Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum). Copeia 2004(3):652-658
2019 Williams, Dean A., Nathan D. Rains, and Amanda M. Hale. Population genetic structure of Texas Horned Lizards: Implications for reintroduction and captive breeding. PeerJ 7(e7746):28
2021 Kohler, Gunther. Taxonomy of Horned Lizards, genus Phrynosoma (Squamata, Phrynosomatidae). Taxonomy 2021(1):83–115
2022 Finger, Nicholas, Keaka Farleigh, Jason T. Bracken, Adam D. Leache, Olivier Francois, Ziheng Yang, Tomas Flouri, Tristan Charran, Tereza Jezkova, Dean A. Williams, and Christopher Blair. Genome-scale data reveal deep lineage divergence and a complex demographic history in the Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) throughout the southwestern and central United States. Genome Biology and Evolution 14(1):24

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Tuesday 28 July 2026 17:24 CT