Coast Horned Lizard Phrynosoma blainvillii  Gray, 1839

Taxonomic Comments:

Brattstrom (1997 Journal of Herpetology 31(3): 434-436) recommended that the subspecies blainvillii and frontale not be recognized. Montanucci [2004 Geographic variation in Phrynosoma coronatum (Lacertilia, Phrynosomatidae): Further evidence for a Peninsular Archipelago. Herpetologica 60(1): 117-139] restricted the name coronatum to populations in southern Baja California. He applied name Phrynosoma blainvillii to all populations in the United States. Standard common name remains Coast Horned Lizard. Adam D. Leaché, Michelle S. Koo, Carol L. Spencer, Theodore J. Papenfuss, Robert N. Fisher, & Jimmy A. McGuire (2009. Quantifying ecological, morphological, and genetic variation to delimit species in the coast horned lizard species complex (Phrynosoma). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(30): 12418-12423), provided support for the specific recognition of P. blainvillii as the only member of this complex in North America (north of Mexico).