THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Phrynosomatidae  

Greater Short-horned Lizard
Phrynosoma hernandesi Girard, 1858

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 See note on P. ornatissimum for recognizing that taxon as a separate species from P. hernandesi. Leaché et al. (2021, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 678110) inferred three main populations within P. hernandesi based on phylogenetic and demographic analyses of RADseq SNP data. Although they did not recognize those populations taxonomically, their analyses indicate that the three populations are incompletely separated lineages that experienced divergence with secondary contact. Those lineages largely correspond to the taxa Montanucci (2015, Zootaxa 4015: 1–177) recognized as P. brevirostris Girard, 1858 ≅ northern population, P. hernandesi ornatum Girard, 1858 ≅ western population, and P. hernandesi hernandesi Girard, 1858 plus P. bauri Montanucci, 2015 plus P. diminutum Montanucci, 2015 ≅ southern population. Hoza et al. (Ichthyology & Herpetology 111: 390–396) provided additional evidence that P. diminutum is not a separate species from P. hernandesi and is part of the southern population of that species.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.07.17.15.59.15)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.71 MB

Province/State Distribution:
Canada: Alberta Saskatchewan
USA: Arizona Colorado Idaho Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico North Dakota Oregon South Dakota Texas Utah Wyoming

First instance(s) of published English names:
Hernandez's Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandezi: 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); Hernandez Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandezi: 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.); Arizona Short-horned Horned Toad (Phrynosoma doublassii hernandesi: Van Denburgh, 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.); Eastern Short-horned Horned Toad (Phrynosoma doublassii ornatissimum: Van Denburgh, 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.); Eastern Short-horned Horned Toad (Phrynosoma douglassi brevirostre: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Mountain Short-horned Horned Toad (Phrynosoma douglassi hernandesi: 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:
1858 Girard, Charles F. United States Exploring Expedition during the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, Under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Vol. 20. Herpetology. C. Sherman & Son, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 492pp.
1927 Burt, Charles E. On the type locality of the horned lizard, (Phrynosoma brevirostre Girard). Copeia 1927:1
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
1993 Wiens, John J. Phylogenetic relationships of phrynosomatid lizards and monophyly of the Sceloporus group. Copeia 1993(2):287-299
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
1999 Smith, Hobart M., Kraig Adler, David Chiszar and Frank Van Breukelen. Phrynosoma hernandesi: Correct spelling. Herpetological Review 30(2):74-76
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
2004 Hodges, Wendy L. Evolution of viviparity in horned lizards (Phrynosoma): Testing the cold-climate hypothesis. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17:1230–1237
2010 Lahti, Megan E. The status of dwarfed populations of Short-horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi) and Great Plains Toads (Anaxyrus cognatus) in the San Luis Valley, Colorado. Dissertation. Utah State University, Logan, Utah. 178pp.
2015 Montanucci, Richard R. A taxonomic revision of the Phrynosoma douglasii species complex (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae). Zootaxa 4015(1):1-177
2021 Leaché, Adam D., Hayden R. Davis, Sonal Singhal, Matthew K. Fujita, Megan E. Lahti and Kelly R. Zamudio Phylogenomic assessment of biodiversity using a reference-based taxonomy: An example with Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9(678110):1-15

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 12:33 CT