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Greater short-horned lizard

Phrynosoma hernandesi · Lizards · Reptiles

Greater short-horned lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi): Broad, flattened body with a spiny back, especially a single row of scales fringing each side of the body. Short, stubby head spines about as long as wide at the base, separated by a wide, deep notch that gives a heart-shaped head from above. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Phrynosoma hernandesi
Family
Phrynosomatidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan south through eastern Montana, the western Dakotas, Wyoming, western Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, eastern Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and western Texas to northern Mexico; limits around southeastern Idaho, northern Utah and Nevada are not precisely known.
Biology

How to identify it

Broad, flattened body with a spiny back, especially a single row of scales fringing each side of the body. [1][2]

Short, stubby head spines about as long as wide at the base, separated by a wide, deep notch that gives a heart-shaped head from above. [1][2]

Back is gray, brown or pink blending with soil, usually with two paired rows of dark brown blotches often edged in white. [1][2]

Total length up to about 15 cm; females larger than males; males have a swelling at the tail base. [1][2]

Compared with the pygmy short-horned lizard: Much smaller as an adult, lacks the wide notch between head horns, horns project almost vertically. [1][2]

Compared with the common sagebrush lizard: Not broad and flattened; no head horns. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a greater short-horned lizard before you act. Compared with the pygmy short-horned lizard: Much smaller as an adult, lacks the wide notch between head horns, horns project almost vertically.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Semiarid plains to high mountains in open, shrubby or openly wooded areas with sparse ground vegetation; soil rocky to sandy. [1][2]

In Montana occurs in sagebrush and grassland. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Viviparous: broods of 5-36 (3-15 in the Pacific Northwest), July-September. [1][2]

Eats ants and other insects, spiders, snails and sowbugs; inactive in cold weather (active April-October in Colorado). [1][2]

Burrows into soil or uses rodent burrows when inactive. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan south through eastern Montana, the western Dakotas, Wyoming, western Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, eastern Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and western Texas to northern Mexico; limits around southeastern Idaho, northern Utah and Nevada are not precisely known.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks