2015-02-24

LAX dune cleanup

We spent the morning working this beautiful area with degraded habitat near Los Angeles International Airport. I found some cool Great Horned Lizards - three or four depending upon whether I was double counting one of them or not.

Horned lizards, genus Phrynosoma, are fascinating, unique and easily recognized animals. They were introduced to European audiences in 1651 through the writing of a Spaniard, Francisco Hernandez. During his travels in Mexico from 1570-1577, Hernandez was fortunate to observe a living horned lizard squirt blood from its eyes. He noted this unique defensive behavior in his report on the first scientific expedition to Mexico by Spain. Nearly two centuries later, in 1828, Wiegmann coined the formal scientific generic name Phrynosoma. (http://digimorph.org/resources/horned.phtml)




No comments:

Post a Comment