How to identify it
Toad-shaped: blunt snout, squat flattened body, short legs and a short triangular tail. [1][2][3]
Spines project from the back of the head, with fringe-like spines along the sides. [1][2][3]
Back is mottled white, gray, beige, tan, brown or black, sometimes yellow or orange, with dark blotches in transverse rows; underside white, sometimes with a yellow or gray wash. [1][2][3]
Small: about 2.5 inches (without tail) as an adult; females larger than males; males have enlarged femoral pores. [1][2][3]
Head horns are small and project nearly vertically, and lack the wide notch that gives the greater short-horned lizard a heart-shaped head (Montana Field Guide). [1][2][3]
Compared with the greater short-horned lizard: Larger; wide notch between the head horns gives a heart-shaped head, horns project horizontally. [1][2][3]
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.
- Greater short-horned lizard · Phrynosoma hernandesi
Where it lives
Semiarid plains to high mountains in open, sparsely vegetated shrubby or openly wooded areas: sagebrush, bunchgrass, pinyon-juniper, open pine. [1][2][3]
How it behaves
Live-bearing; gives birth to 3-15 young, mainly August to mid-September. [1][2][3]
Surface active roughly March-early November in Washington; mid-day active in spring and fall, inactive at mid-day in summer. [1][2][3]
Diet is primarily ants (about three-quarters in adults) plus other insects; newborns feed almost exclusively on ants. [1][2][3]
Colour tracks the substrate, which makes it cryptic; burrows into soil or uses rodent burrows when inactive. [1][2][3]
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
- California — reptile take · 2026 California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations (updated July 10, 2026), 14 CCR 5.05/5.60
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.
Where it is found
Eastern Washington south to northeastern California and east to northern Nevada and eastern Idaho; an old record exists from extreme southwestern Montana. Historical records near Osoyoos Lake, British Columbia, but considered extirpated from Canada.
Sources
Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.
NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30
NatureServe
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · reviewed 2026-09-30
Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks