Blainville's Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii)

Created: April 18th, 2011 - 12:53 AM
Last Modified: April 18th, 2011 - 09:58 PM Entered by: Tamara Ballensky
Record 72789

Country: United States		State: California	County: San Diego County	Time: 2011-04-16 14:01:00
Qty: 2	Age: Adult	Sex: Both	Method: Visual encounter	Habitat: Chaparral
Body Temperature: -----		Air Temperature: 86.00F	Ground Temperature: -----	Humidity: -----
Sky Conditions: Clear		Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous	Elevation: 1053.00ft	Barometric Pressure: -----

Notes

Found these two together- possibly mating? One of them was found belly-up, with its foot caught between a small rock and a dirt wall. It was wiggling and trying to free itself from the spot it had apparently fallen into. The second one was sitting normally, about 4 inches away.

The male had dried blood on his face (presumably squirted from his eyes- no injuries noted). I don't know if the blood was from a previous incident or related to this encounter with the female. Do horned lizards ever use blood in courtship or non-canine defense?

Vouchers

Comments

Posted by Tamara Ballensky on Jan 04, 2012 at 03:10 PM

Thanks for the info Jackson

Posted by Jackson Shedd on Jan 02, 2012 at 12:17 PM

Interesting observation. There is no evolutionary advantage for use of blood-squirting during courtship/breeding. Non-canine defense includes humans. My bet would be that the individual with dried blood had an encounter with a canine or human a day or two before your encounter.

Posted by Jeff Nordland on Apr 18, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Very interesting - thanks for sharing the story in your notes. Maybe there was another male nearby and the two got into a territorial battle?

Posted by Isaac Duran on Apr 18, 2011 at 01:01 AM

Love these guys, great find! Not sure on the blood from the eyes during mating.