hlcs nl nov 2016 · horned lizard capital of the world, to look for lizards! if you are interested...

PhrynosomaticsThe Newsletter of the Horned Lizard Conservation Society

Our purpose is to document and publicize the values andconservation needs of horned lizards, to promote hornedlizard conservation projects, and to assist with horned lizardmanagement initiatives throughout their ranges.

Volume 22, Issue No. 2 MAY 2017

Phrynosomatics May 2017

HLCS Biennial MeetingJuly 28-29, 2017

By Jared FullerIt is my greatpleasure to an-nounce our nextbiennial meeting,which will occur inhistoric downtownGoliad, TX onJuly 28 - 29. Sat-urday will be filledwith a series oflectures, followedby an evening social. On Sun-day, we will ab-scond to nearbyKenedy, TX, theproclaimedhorned lizard capital of the world, to look forlizards! If you are interested in presenting apaper or a poster, please contact me as

soon as possi-ble: Jared Fuller([email protected]).

In addition, weare consideringputting togetheran auction forthis event. If youhave a hornedlizard or nature-themed item thatyou would bewilling to donate,then please letme know!

Additional details will be announced shortlyvia email and on Facebook! Looking forwardto seeing everyone!

Downtown Goliad. (Photo by James Fuller)


National Board of DirectorsPresidentJared A. [email protected]

President-ElectThis position is open.

SecretaryLeslie [email protected]

Treasurer Tanya Phillips (interim)[email protected]

Member ServicesLynn [email protected]

Director At LargeMonty [email protected].

Colorado ContactDanny MartinNatural Resource Ecology LabColorado State University1499 Campus DeliveryFort Collins CO [email protected]

New Mexico ContactTom McCainPO Box 53095Albuquerque NM [email protected]

California ContactThis position is open.

Texas ContactBill Brooks108 Cactus CovePaige TX [email protected]

Nevada ContactJared A. [email protected]

Mexico ContactWade [email protected]

PhyrnosomaticsCopy EditorLeslie [email protected]

PhyrnosomaticsDesign EditorFannie Messec (interim)[email protected]

GOT NEWS?FOR THE PHRYNOSOMATICSNEWSLETTER THAT IS…Send your photos (with captions),cartoon, artwork, poems, or articlesfor the newsletter to Leslie Nossamanat [email protected] today!

on the web at –– www.hornedlizards.org

Phrynosomatics May 2017 3

By Cecilia Aguilar Morales, De-partment of Scientific and Tech-nological Research, Universidadde Sonora

The Ajos-Bavispe National ForestReserve and Wildlife Refuge innortheastern Sonora, México con-tains seven Sky Island mountainranges and/or mountain com-plexes connected by oak wood-land. The goals of this nationalprotected natural area are re-source management, monitoring,and protection of priority wildlifespecies, forest fire management,and environmental education.

Sonora with eight species hasthe greatest diversity ofPhrynosoma of any state inMexico or the United States.Six of them occur in the Ajos-Bavispe Reserve area: P. cor-nutum, P. ditmarsi, P.hernandesi, P. modestum, P.orbiculare, and P. solare(Rorabaugh and Lemos-E.2016). Two of these speciesare only found in Mexico. P. or-biculare is widely distributed inthe highlands of Mexico (VanDevender et al. 2015). P. dit-marsi is a very distinctivespecie that is endemic to theSonora state (Sherbrooke2003, Hodges 1995). The dis-tribution, behavior, and ecology

of the latter species are poorlyknown, and it should be nomi-nated for protection under theNOM-059 Mexican endangeredspecies law (T. R. Van Deven-der, pers. com. 2016).

Goal of the study This project will summarize thedistribution, ecology, and im-portance of Phrynosoma in theAjos-Bavispe Reserve. A data-base and distribution maps ofthe six species will be createdusing the records in theMadrean Archipelago Biodiver-sity Assessment and MadreanDiscovery Expeditions data-bases (madrean.org, madrean-discovery.org). The respectivehabitats where they are foundand the general aspects oftheir ecology will be described.

Justification The distribution and habitats ofthe horned lizard species in theSonoran Sky Islands are poorlyknown. This project will be animportant contribution to theAjos Bavispe Reserve and un-derstanding the biology of thespecies found there. This willserve as an information basefor reserve managers andlandowners to help in the con-servation of horned lizards andother reptiles and their habi-

tats. In Texas, P. cornutum hasdisappeared from large parts ofits range and is threatened.Since 2013, juvenile P. ditmarsiindividuals have been found inthe Sierras de la Madera and laPúrica.

This project will also serve as areference for future work and inthe monitoring of their popula-tions. Horned lizard popula-tions are impacted by humanactivities including cattle graz-ing, buffelgrass planting, anddisturbance near rural townswithin the Ajos-Bavispe Re-serve. In towns such as Bac-erac, where people keep loscamaleones as pets, there is aneed for environmental educa-tion programs in the schools toinform the general public thatthey are poor pets that are diffi-cult to keep alive in captivity,and the conservation effortsneed to protect the species.

Duration The project will last approxi-mately six months, from Janu-ary to June 2017, resulting in asummary publication in thejournal Mesoamerican Her-petology (http://mesoameri-canherpetology.com/index.html).

2017 Grant Recipient Research SummaryIn 2017 HLCS awarded a grant to support conservation and ecology-based research to CeciliaAguilar from the University of Sonora in northern Mexico. The following article describes the plans forher interesting research. We look forward to hearing the final results of this worthwhile project by thisresearcher!

Horned Lizards of Ajos-Bavispe, Sonora, Mexico


New Exhibits for the HLCSBy Bill Brooks

On January 18th the HLCS re-ceived a very exciting email.Rebecca Bennett, the grand-daughter of Larry Wisdom con-tacted the society to see if wewould like to use six more dis-plays Larry Wisdom had made.

Larry was a long time sup-porter and life member of theHLCS. Back in the days whenthe Texas Parks and WildlifeDepartment would host theirhuge outdoor festival EXPO,Larry would be there manningthe booth, collecting sightingreports, and showing hishorned lizard exhibits and mod-els, the best rubber models I’veever seen.

He’d also be at our booth atEastland’s Old Rip Festivalhonoring the most famoushorned lizard in the world.Larry and Bette Armstrongwould host epic remote con-trolled horny toad races.

Larry had given to HLCS threeexhibits featuring his modelhorned lizards. These exhibitshave been front and center atour HLCS booths for years.

The remarkable Larry Wisdomworked as a food chemist forthe Frito-Lay Company. (He in-vented nacho cheese Doritos.)After he retired he devotedmuch of his time to his family,his church, building his remark-able home, the Texas NativePlant Society and the HornedLizard Conservation Society.

It was a sad day when we lostLarry Wisdom back on July 27,2015. Larry was my friend andall around great talented guy.

But back to the January email.After Rebecca contacted us,our president Tim Tristanreplied with an enthusiasticyes, we would love for the Wis-dom family to loan us more ofLarry’s exhibits for our out-reach. Rebecca turned us overto her mom and Larry’s daugh-ter, Beth and her Husband BillyBennett. Tim turned to me todrive to Blooming Grove, TX toretrieve the displays.

They wanted to meet BetteArmstrong so I asked Betteand Jim to meet me there onJanuary 31st. At 1 pm we allrendezvoused at the amazinghouse Larry built. Occupyingthe house was the delightfulBeth and Billy Bennett. Wespent 4 hours chatting like long

time friends. We toured thehouse, looked over the beauti-ful grounds, and exploredLarry’s astounding workshop.

This is where Larry made rub-ber molds of preserved hornedlizard specimens from muse-ums all over the state. Here hebuilt the wooden cases for hisexhibits. We also got to see thedelicately intricate flower mod-els made for BRIT and NPSOT.

At the end of the day we reluc-tantly left the warm company ofBeth and Billy to return withLarry’s treasures. We nowhave museum quality exhibitson the Horned Lizards ofTexas, the Horned Lizards ofNorth America, the HornedLizards of Mexico, HornedLizard Defenses, and theHorned Lizard Life Cycle.

It is very important that we usethese exhibits and get them in

From left to right Beth and Billy Bennet and Bette and Jim Armstrong


front of as many people aspossible. I have some ideas I’mworking on. At the moment weplan to show the exhibits at theLady Bird Johnson WildflowerCenter in Austin for their Rep-tiles and Birds of Prey night 6to 9pm, June 8th, 2017. If youare in the area, come by (andhelp out?) at our HLCS boothand see these remarkable ex-hibits. For more information,contact Bill [email protected] or 512-581-0377.

Texas Horned Lizard Life Cycle

Horned Lizard Defenses

Horned Lizards of North America Horned Lizards of Texas

Horned Lizards of Mexico


The Horned Lizard and the Horned Lizard Conservation Society as a School Project

By Leslie Nossaman

On January 26, HLCS EditorLeslie Nossaman interviewedKhalil Hanif-Norris. Khalil par-ticipated in a project at TheCanterbury Episcopal Schoolthat was started by his teacher,Robin Lage. The assignmentwas to write a grant applicationfor a nonprofit and Khalil wonthe project. His subject was thehorned lizard and his nonprofitwas the Horned Lizard Conser-vation Society. Here is his inter-view. His grant letter and grantillustration are also included inthis article.

I understand that you had aclass assignment where youwrote a grant application fora nonprofit organizationwhich was reviewed by agrant expert that you won.And that you selected thehorned lizard and the HornedLizard Conservation Society.Tell me about what the proj-ect objectives were.The objectives for the GrantWriting Project at my schoolwere to research a non-profitorganization and fill out a grantapplication, draw a picture, andwrite a persuasive letter ontheir behalf in order to getmoney to help their cause.

The Horned Lizard Conserva-tion Society is so excitedthat you selected the hornedlizard as your grant subject.I also understand that the

Horned Lizard Conserva-tion Society was not onthe original list of poten-tial nonprofit organiza-tions to choose from.Can you let us know whyyou choose the hornedlizard as your animal andthe Horned Lizard Con-servation Society and anyexperience you have hadwith horned lizards?

My teacher wanted me topick an organization thatI’m passionate about…well…I love lizards. Theyare fascinating creatures,and not a lot of peopleknow about them. I love the way Horned Lizards look,so I began research- ing organizations that educateand inform people about them.I found HLCS online and beganresearching your organization

and what you do.

I have been wanting a lizard fora long time. I recently got aBearded Dragon, and I love

Khalil holding his Grant Writing Project award letter.

Khalil (in the middle) and his class with the masks that HLCS sent as a thank you.


taking care of a him. I feed him crickets, kale,and bananas. I want other people to know thatlizards are wonderful creatures that should beprotected. Lizards can make great additions toyour family (better than a cat or dog). <Editor’snote: Horned lizards are a type of lizard that donot work as a pet as they have very delicatesystems. But there are wonderful alternativessuch as the Bearded Dragon!>

What references did you use for your research on the horned lizard?I used your website to research information about my grant application and paper.

Is there anything else you might like to add?If I could have any say in how the money that was donated to your organization on my behalf shouldbe used, I would want the money to help rescue and care for Horned Lizards that are in danger, notcared for properly, or are ill. Thank you for all that you do. It’s nice knowing there are other people inthe world like me…people who really love lizards!!

Khalil's Horned Lizard Drawing as part of his grant application.

Khalil Hanif Grant-Letter.pdf

By Leslie Nossaman

We are still looking for volun-teers for President-Elect andTreasurer. Tanya Phillips hasgraciously agreed to continuein the Treasurer role until wefind someone else to fill the po-sition and we are very grateful!We are also looking for a newNewsletter Design Editor.

Looking for HLCS LeadersFannie Messec has also gra-ciously agreed to continue inthis role for now but we wouldlike to find someone soon to replace her. Please contactJared ([email protected])if you or if you know of some-one who might be interested inhelping by joining the Board ofDirectors or the Newsletter Design Editor.


West Texas HLCS Survey 2016By Bill Brooks

May 27th, the Friday beforeMemorial Day weekend I leftmy home in Bastrop at theblazingly early hour of 10:30am. I just can’t quite get awayearly…ever.

Tanya Phillips and Chuck Re-burn only left an hour before Idid. We texted a few times but Icouldn’t catch up with them.Chuck and Tanya invited theHLCS back to their vacationhome in Terlingua Villages, justnorth of Big Bend NationalPark. For the third time the so-ciety was searching for hornedlizards in the area.

As I turned into the subdivisionabout 8:45 pm (just about dark)a Javelina and long eared JackRabbits greeted me. Tanyadrove their 4 –wheeler out toguide me through the maze ofroads. HLCS member BruceEdley and his friend Mason Hy-land had arrived earlier fromCalifornia. They work for theColorado Desert District for Cal-ifornia State Parks. Bruce is anESI and Mason is an environ-mental scientist. The two ofthem were already off night timeherping (looking for amphibiansand reptiles). They repeatedthis every evening of the trip.

Please note: no animals werecollected on this trip. All ani-mals were photographed andleft where we found them.

May 28th we toured Tanya’sfamily’s properties in the area.We found a Black-necked

Gartersnake in a pond, a bee-hive in a shallow cave (and gotstung several times), and reallyugly little arachnid called a So-lifugid. We also searched thearea where we had seenRound-tailed Horned Lizards inthe past but didn’t find any. Itwas a little hot for them (andus) at the time.

May 29th we toured some localmines and a lake. This eveningChuck made us his famousmac and cheese. Chuck madewonderful meals for our littlegroup every evening at the va-cation home.

After dinner we all took off for alittle bit of night herping. Wemet up with a friend of Bruce’sand local herper, Daryl. Wesearched a large road-cut.Tanya, Chuck, and I then re-turned to the cabin while theothers drove the roads for an-other 5 hours.

May 30th we all went to Big

Bend National Park and hikedto Cattail Springs. While wewere there at this lovely water-ing hole we met another coupleof herpers from Houston, Mikeand Carly. They hung aroundwith us the rest of the day and Irandomly ran into them thenext week. On the hike back tothe cars we saw a lovely greenWestern Collared Lizard.

On another day Mike and Carlyhiked the Lost Mine Trail in theBasin without us. On this tripthey saw a mother bear withher two cubs.

After Cattail Springs, Chuckand Tanya headed for homewhile the rest of us went to theBasin. The others trekked outto the window while I bought anot very good $10.00 ham-burger at the Basin restaurant.I perused the gift shops, read,and filled our water bottleswhile they were hiking. While Iwas reading in the car, itstarted hailing. It got up to fin-gernail-size, not large enoughto really hurt anyone but it didsting a little.

All during the trip we occasion-ally had light evening showers.(Heavy rains flooded parts ofAustin while we were out west.)The dampness allowed us tosee some local amphibians thatmost people don’t get to see.

We also got to see bright redvelvet mites. These tiny redspecks spotted the landscape.

Chuck made us a wonderfulspaghetti dinner. It made me

Bruce Edley with a lovely pink Coachwhipsnake (Photo by Mason Hyland).


want to sleep. It made Bruceand Mason want to hit theroads searching for more ani-mals. While they were out theyspotted a couple of Ringtails.

May 31 after a breakfast ofbacon and eggs we said good-bye to Chuck and Tanya. Theyreturned to Austin while Bruce,Mason, and I toured Terlinguaand then went back to BigBend National Park. After aquick visit they started theirlong 2-day drive back to Cali-fornia. I, on the other hand,stayed in Big Bend until FridayJune 3rd. I camped at Cotton-wood, the Rio Grande Village,and in the Basin. I explored allpoints in between and evenmade it to the Barton WarnockCenter, the headquarters of theBig Bend Ranch State Park.

On Friday I drove part wayback to Bastrop for the Sander-son Snake Days (in Sander-son, Texas). This is a day ofprograms for field herpetolo-gists and Texas Parks andWildlife Department staff. Thiswas the 6thyear of SnakeDays and mysecond to at-tend. For meit was a won-derful gather-ing of goodfriends andgreat talks.

Although wedidn’t see anyhorned lizards(in WestTexas) this year, we

did see a lot of good reptilesand amphibians. Most wereseen by Bruce and Mason ontheir nightly excursions.

Here is our total reptile andamphibian list for our four daysof searching.

LIZARDS: Texas Banded Gecko(Coleonyx reticulatus) 1

Reticulated Gecko (Coleonyxreticulatus) 3

Greater Earless Lizard(Cophosaurus texanus)many

Lesser Earless Lizard (Hol-brookia maculate)

Crevice Spiny Lizard (Scelo-porus poinsettia p.) 2

Western Collard Lizard (Crota-phytus collaris) 1

Ornate Tree Lizard (Urosaurusornatus)

Eastern Fence Lizard (Scelo-porus undulates)

Big Bend Canyon Lizard(Sceloporus m. annultus)

Side-blotched Lizard (Utastansburiana stejnegeri)

Rusty-rumped Whiptail (Aspi-doscelis septemvittata)

The survey scenery.

Spotted Chirping Frog (Photo by Bruce Edley).continued on next page

10

continued from previous page

Trans-Pecos Striped Whiptail (Aspidoscelis ino-matua)

Common Checkered Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tes-selatus)

Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelisexsanguis)

Texas Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis gularis)Four-lined Skink (Plestiodon tetragrammus) Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris)

SNAKES: Texas Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata jeni)

3 (1 DOR-Dead on Road)Kansas Glossy Snake (Arizona e. elegans) 1

DORBlack-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus) 1Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (C. atrox)

1 DORWestern Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum tes-taceus) 1

Black-necked Gartersnake (Thamnophis c. cyr-topsis) 3

Central TX Whipsnake (Masticophis taenatus or-natus) 1

Trans-pecos Ratsnakes (Bogertophis s. subocu-laris) 2

Blind Snake 1 (Species ?)Texas Lyre Snake (Trimorphodon vilkinsoni)

AMPHIBIANS: Red-spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus)Green Toad (Bufo debilis insidior)Texas Toad (Bufo speciosus)Great Plains Narrow-mouth Toad (Gastrophryne olivacea)

Rio Grand Leopard Frog (Rana berlandieri)Spotted Chirping Frog (Syrrhophus guttilatus)Canyon Treefrog tadpole (Hyla arenicolor) 1Couch’s Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchii)

HLCS Booth SittingBy Bill Brooks

Back on September 17, 2016the Horned Lizard Conserva-tion Society had a booth at theAustin Zoo for their NatureFestival. The HLCS has about6 or 8 booths a year for various

festivals and nature events.These booth sitting opportuni-ties are great opportunities foroutreach and a chance to getnew members. It is important tokeep our name in the publicand let people know of our mis-sion. It's an easy thing to do.

Everyone loves horned lizards.

If you would like to help with abooth or host one of your ownat your local nature festival,please get in touch with BillBrooks, 512-581-0377<[email protected]>

The HLCS Booth (photo by Bill Brooks, Sept. 17, 2016).Wade Phelps and Bill Brooks with the horny toad costume.


Horned Lizard Research Grant 2018 ApplicationThe Horned Lizard ConservationSociety is dedicated to protectinghorned lizards by documentingand publicizing the values andconservation needs of hornedlizards, promoting horned lizardconservation projects, and as-sisting with horned lizard man-agement initiatives. Towardsthose ends, the HLCS annuallysponsors research that has di-rect conservation applications.To learn more about the societyand past grants, go to

http://www.hornedlizards.org/.

We will be offering grants againin 2018. In the past, priority hasbeen given to projects that havedirect conservation implications,including public education.

To apply, send a proposal detail-ing the goal of the study, the ra-tionale for it including relevanceto conservation of horned lizards,and how your work would benefitfrom this opportunity. The pro-

posal may not exceed 1000words, excluding up to ten refer-ences. Also include a preliminarybudget with any other fundingsources available or received foryour project. In addition, send ashort resume or CV (up to 3pages) for the lead applicant andhave a single letter of referencesent to Monty Criswell:[email protected]. The deadlineis January 1, 2018. The decisionwill be announced by January31, 2018.

Two pictures of the HLCS booth at the Austin Zoo (photo by Bill Brooks, September 17, 2016)

HLCS Booth Sitting continued

Kids with masks (photo by Bill Brooks, Sept. 17, 2016)

New HLCS Member Services Officer

By Leslie Nossaman

HLCS Board of Directors would like to an-nounce a new officer, Lynn Seman! Lynnhas volunteered to be the Member ServicesOfficer. She was appointed by the Board asthis is an appointed position and will servefor the rest of this election cycle. Welcometo Lynn!


Return Service Requested

PLEASE JOIN US! Students/Seniors: $10; Regular: $25; Contributing: $50; Corporate: $250; Lifetime: $300Families: $25 for the first person and $10 for each additional member

HLCS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are deductible to the extent allowable by law.Printed on Recycled Paper

Table of ContentsHLCS Biennial Meeting: July 28-29, 2017…......................................................................................................p 1 Jared Fuller2017 Grant Recipient Research Summary........................................................................................................ p 3Horned Lizards of Ajos-Bavispe, Sonora, Mexico..............................................................................................p 3 Cecilia Aguilar MoralesNew Exhibits for the HLCS......................................................................................................................... pp 4 - 5 Bill BrooksThe Horned Lizard and the Horned Lizard Conservation Society as a School Project.............................. pp 6 - 7 Leslie NossamanLooking for HLCS Leaders.................................................................................................................................p 7 Leslie NossamanWest Texas HLCS Survey 2016................................................................................................................pp 9 - 10 Bill BrooksHLCS Booth Sitting................................................................................................................................. pp 10 - 11 Bill BrooksHorned Lizard Research Grant 2018 Application.............................................................................................p 11 New HLCS Member Services Officer............................................................................................................... p 11 Leslie Nossaman

Phrynosomatics is now sent electronically.

hlcs nl nov 2016 · horned lizard capital of the world, to look for lizards! if you are interested...

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