Gulf Coast horned lizard

The Gulf Coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma wigginsi) is a species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is endemic to Baja California, Mexico.

Gulf Coast horned lizard
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Phrynosomatidae
Genus: Phrynosoma
Species:
P. wigginsi
Binomial name
Phrynosoma wigginsi
Montanucci, 2004

Taxonomy

Phrynosoma wigginsi was split from Phrynosoma coronatum in 2004 on morphological evidence. P. wigginsi has a tan rather than chocolate forehead, a fourth "subrictal" spine below the eye, and a longer head than P. coronatum.

Etymology

The specific name, wigginsi, is in honor of Stanford University botanist Ira Loren Wiggins, who in 1946 collected what later became the holotype.[1][2]

Geographic range

The geographic range of P. wigginsi is restricted to the region around Mulegé and Loreto on the Gulf Coast side of Baja California Sur, specifically the eastern side of the Sierra de Guadalupe and Sierra de La Giganta.[1]

Habitat

P. wigginsi lives in similar coastal desert habitats to its close relative P. coronatum, but unlike more distantly related members of the genus. This alignment has been used to illustrate the principle of niche conservatism.[3] It preys on ants and other invertebrates, and, like other Phrynosomatid lizards, has the remarkable ability to squirt blood from its eyes as a defense.[4]

References
  1. Montanucci, Richard R. (2004). "Geographic Variation in Phrynosoma coronatum (Lacertilia, Phrynosomatidae): Further Evidence for a Peninsular Archipelago". Herpetologica. 60 (1): 117–139. doi:10.1655/02-100. S2CID 86387585. (Phrynosoma wigginsi, new species).
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Phrynosoma wigginsi, p. 285).
  3. Luxbacher, A. M.; Knouft, J. H. (2009). "Assessing concurrent patterns of environmental niche and morphological evolution among species of horned lizards (Phrynosoma)". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 22 (8): 1669–78. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01779.x. PMID 19538346. S2CID 29282515.
  4. Sherbrooke, Wade C.; Rodriguez, Chris (2010). "Defensive blood-squirting behavior of Phrynosoma braconnieri (Short-tailed Horned Lizard)". Herpetological Review. 41 (2): 226–227.



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