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Phrynosoma solare GRAY, 1845

IUCN Red List - Phrynosoma solare - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPhrynosomatidae, Phrynosomatinae, Phrynosomatini; Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Regal Horned Lizard
G: Vierhorn-Krötenechse
S: Camaleón Real 
SynonymPhrynosoma solaris GRAY 1845: 229
Phrynosoma solare — VAN DENBURGH 1895: 115
Phrynosoma regale GIRARD 1858: 406
Phrynosoma regale — GENTRY 1885: 146
Phrynosoma regale — BOULENGER 1885: 245
Phrynosoma solare — COPE 1900
Phrynosoma regale — DITMARS 1911
Phrynosoma solare — BURT 1933
Phrynosoma solare — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 104
Phrynosoma solare — PARKER 1974
Phrynosoma solare — STEBBINS 1985: 142
Phrynosoma solare — LINER 1994
Phrynosoma solare — LINER 2007
Phrynosoma (Anota) solare — CROTHER et al. 2012
Phrynosoma (Anota) solare — DE QUEIROZ in CROTHER et al. 2017
Phrynosoma solare — KÖHLER 2021
Phrynosoma solare — HEIMES 2022 
DistributionUSA (S Arizona, New Mexico),
Mexico (Sonora, N Sinaloa, Baja California)

Type locality: California (in error). Restricted to Yuma, Arizona by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH XXIII.125.d,
Syntype: USNM 161, 131664 [Phrynosoma regale] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Phrynosoma solare is one of the larger members of the genus (maximum snout·vent length 117 mm in females; 95 mm in males), with four (rarely only two) equal sized occipital spines, which form a continuous series with the large temporal spines on the posterior edge of the head. The bases of the occipital spines are close together. The nostrils lie within the canthal ridge. There are two scale rows in the lateral abdominal fringe, and the ventral scales are keeled (Parker 1974). 
CommentGroup: Belongs to the Anota clade fide LEACHE & MCGUIRE 2006.

Diet: With 89% of its diet being ants this species seems to be the most dependent and specialized on ants (Fabian 2014). 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin word solaris = "of the sun." 
References
  • Aguilar-Morales, Cecilia and Thomas R. Van Devender 2018. Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma) of Sonora, Mexico: Distribution and Ecology. Sonoran Herpetologist 31 (3): 40-50 - get paper here
  • Axtell, R.W. 1986. The Epipterygoids in Phrynosoma solare, Still Present, but Disappearing Journal of Herpetology 20 (1): 79-81. - get paper here
  • Baharav, D. 1975. Movement of the Horned Lizard Phrynosoma solare Copeia 1975 (4): 649-657. - get paper here
  • Baur, B.E. 1986. Longevity of horned lizards of the genus Phrynosoma. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 22 (3): 149-151 - get paper here
  • Bezy, Robert L. and Charles J. Cole 2014. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Madrean Archipelago of Arizona and New Mexico. American Museum Novitates (3810): 1-24 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here
  • Burt, Charles E. 1933. Some lizards from the Great Basin of the West and adjacent areas, with comments on the status of various forms. American Midland Naturalist 14: 228-250 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1900. The crocodilians, lizards and snakes of North America. Ann. Rep. U.S. Natl. Mus. 1898: 153-1270 - get paper here
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Cutter, W.L. 1959. An Instance of Blood-Squirting by Phrynosoma solare Copeia 1959 (2): 176. - get paper here
  • Degenhardt, William G.; C. W. Painter, and A. H. Price 1996. Amphibians and reptiles of New Mexico. Univ. New Mexico Press, 431 pp.
  • Ditmars, Raymond L. 1911. Reptiles of all lands. National Geographic 22(7): 601-633
  • Enderson, Erik F.; Thomas R. Van Devender, Robert L. Bezy 2014. Amphibians and reptiles of Yécora, Sonora and the Madrean Tropical Zone of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico. Check List 10 (4): 913-926 - get paper here
  • Fabian, B. F 2014. Überlegungen zur Ernährung von Krötenechsen. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (107): 24-29
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  • Girard, Charles F. 1858. 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, xv, 492 pages [see note in Zhao and Adler 1993: 369] - get paper here
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  • Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - get paper here
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  • Lara-Reséndiz Rafael A., Arenas-Moreno Diego M., Beltrán-Sánchez Elizabeth, Gramajo Weendii, Verdugo-Molina Javier, Sherbrooke Wade C. et al. 2015. Selected body temperature of nine species of Mexican horned lizards (Phrynosoma). Rev. Mex. Biodiv. 86 (1): 275-278. - get paper here
  • Lara-Resendiz, Rafael A., Rodrigo Garcia-Figueroa and Ramón F. Ochoa-Jara. 2016. Phrynosoma solare. Nocturnal activity. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3(4): 1010–1011 - get paper here
  • Leaché, Adam D. and Jimmy A. McGuire 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of horned lizards (Phrynosoma ) based on nuclear and mitochondrial data: Evidence for a misleading mitochondrial gene tree. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (3): 628-644 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sinaloa, Mexico with a conservation status summary and comparisons with neighboring states. ZooKeys 931: 85-114 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Rorabaugh JC 2019. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Sonora, Mexico, with updated species lists. ZooKeys 829: 131-160 - get paper here
  • Liner, Ernest A. 2007. A CHECKLIST OF THE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MEXICO. Louisiana State University Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science 80: 1-60 - get paper here
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  • Nevárez-de los Reyes; Manuel, David Lazcano, Javier Banda-Leal and Ian Recchio 2014. Notes on Mexican Herpetofauna 22: Herpetofauna of the Continental Portion of the Municipality of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 49(8):105-115 - get paper here
  • Painter, Charles W. 1993. Phrynosoma solare (regal horned lizard). USA: New Mexico. Herpetological Review 24 (4): 155 - get paper here
  • Parker, W.S. 1974. Phrynosoma solare (Gray): Regal horned lizard. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 162: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Parker, William S. 1971. Ecological observations on the regal horned lizard (Phrynosoma solare) in Arizona. Herpetologica 27 (3): 333-338 - get paper here
  • Powell, G. L. and A. P. Russell 2023. The horns of horned lizards (Phrynosomatidae: Phrynosoma): the long road to their conceptualization as unique lacertilian features with individual identity. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 17(10):86–107 - get paper here
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