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Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 8th, 2019, 9:16 pm
by frodaman
2018 was a good one for me in the herp department - This summer I participated in the Arizona Game & Fish Department's internship program and got to be involved with Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) surveys on the Barry M. Goldwater Range. It was a great experience seeing some relatively untouched habitat (other than where the target practice is, which has relatively minimal impact) and observing an ecosystem throughout the season. I was there from May to August, and participated in occupancy surveys for P. mcallii. This sort of experience was different from the destination-hopping that I usually do, and it was amazing to see predator-prey relationships, activity fluctuations of differing species throughout the season, breeding behaviors, neonates emerging, nocturnal/crepuscular/diurnal activity, etc. What was most interesting to me was observing the perfectly evolved psammophilic behavior in each species.

I didn't always have the time to take photos, but here is a sample of what was encountered out there. Some photos from my DSLR and some from my cell phone.

ImageBarry M. Goldwater Dunes - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Image20180719_085956 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Flat-Tailed Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma mcallii)
For the most part, although we had to manipulate and process each lizard for the study, I tried to take as many in-situ shots of these guys as possible. Their behavior is so interesting.

Image20180530_060236 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Image20180606_100418 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mccalli - Yuma County, AZ (In-situ) May 2018-3 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mccalli - Yuma County, AZ (In-situ) May 2018-6 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ 7-6-18-6 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ 7-3-18 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ-3 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ-4 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ 6-21-18-5 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ (In-situ) May 2018-11 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mccalli - Yuma County, AZ (In-situ) May 2018-9 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mccalli - Yuma County, AZ (In-situ) May 2018-4 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma mcallii - Yuma County, AZ 7-6-18-3 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Goode's Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma geoodei)
This species was also another extremeley common Phrynosoma species out on the range. It wasn't uncommon by any means for them to overlap, but usually certain plots had more of one species than the other.

ImagePhrynosoma goodei - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma goodei - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma goodei - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma goodei - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma goodei - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma goodei - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImagePhrynosoma goodei - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Colorado Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes laterorepens

ImageCrotalus cerastes laterorepens - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageCrotalus cerastes laterorepens - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageCrotalus cerastes - Yuma County, AZ (In-situ) by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageCrotalus cerastes laterorepens, Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageColorado Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes laterorepens) - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii

ImageGambelia wislizenii - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

This was an interesting observation - When we were hiking to plots in the dark hours of the morning, we occasionally found them perched up sleeping in creosote bushes.

ImageGambelia wislizenii nocturnal behavior (in-situ) - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageLong-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii) - Yuma County, AZ_-2 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageGambelia wislizenii - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis)

ImageDipsosaurus dorsalis - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake (Chionactis occipitalis annulata)

ImageChionactis occipitalis annulata - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageColorado Desert Shovelnose Snake (Chionactis occipitalis annulata) - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageChionactis occipitalis annulata - Yuma County, AZ-2 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Image20180808_062623 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Image20180813_060725 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Yuma Fringetoe Lizard (Uma rufopunctata)

ImageUma rufopunctata - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Image20180609_064844 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Long-tailed Brush Lizard (Urosaurus graciousus
ImageUrosaurus graciousus - Yuma County, AZ 7-6-18 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr



Spotted Leafnose Snake (Phyllorhynchus decurtatus)

ImagePhyllorhynchus decurtatus - Yuma County, AZ by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Banded Gecko (coleonyx variegatus)

Image20180731_045024 by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Predation

Something we saw on occasion was predation from Loggerhead Shrikes. There were a couple razor wire and barbed wire fences on the range that were frequently used by the birds.

ImageShriked FTHL by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageShriked Chionactis by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageShriked Gecko by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

ImageLoggerhead Shrike -Shriked- Iguana Skull by Jeff Martineau, on Flickr

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 9th, 2019, 12:13 am
by Porter
Very very cool :thumb: Awesome post man. Liked see in the variation and insitus of both the lizards and winders. And fence zombies.The whole studies photoset is great. It’s so cool how the They let you get so close to them. I remember when I got my life for Blainesville horned lizard shots. As long as i moved slow I could lay down right in front of them and stick the camera almost touching their nose. Pretty much just hung out with em for about an hour and a half. So cool to see photos of the species. Thanks for posting :beer:

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 9th, 2019, 11:49 am
by Kfen
Really neat shots of the lizards and sidewinders partially buried in the sand. You must have some good eyes. How many of those did you find because of tracks or disturbance in the sand? Thanks for sharing

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 9th, 2019, 12:07 pm
by Fieldherper
Awesome stuff!! I love the low desert sand dwellers!

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 10th, 2019, 7:59 am
by Jeff Lemm
Fantastic post, Jeff, nice work!

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 10th, 2019, 4:24 pm
by gcsnelling
Love that place. A few years ago a friend of mine found an undescribed species of Veromessor harvester ant out there.

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 11th, 2019, 8:24 am
by jonathan
Fantastic species and even more fantastic in-situ shots!

I really, really love the non-posed shots that show what they're doing when they're just doing their thing.

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 11th, 2019, 9:51 am
by Carl Brune
Awesome post!

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 11th, 2019, 7:19 pm
by BillMcGighan
all already said!!
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Re: Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard Project

Posted: January 23rd, 2019, 12:31 pm
by bgorum
Jealous!