Gulf Coast horned lizard Gulf Coast horned lizard The Gulf Coast horned lizard ("Phrynosoma wigginsi" ) is a species of horned lizards native to Baja California, Mexico. "Phrynosoma wigginsi" was split from "Phrynosoma coronatum" in 2004 on morphological evidence. "P. wigginsi" has a tan rather than chocolate forehead, a fourth "subrictal" spine below the eye, and a longer head than "P. coronatum". The specific name, "wigginsi", is in honor of Stanford University botanist Ira Loren Wiggins, who in 1946 collected what later became the holotype. The geographic range of "P. wigginsi" is restricted to the region around Mulegé and Loreto on the Gulf Coast
Golden toad led bachelors to attack amplectant pairs and form what has been described as a "writhing masses of toad balls". During the 1977 and 1982 seasons, males outnumbered females by over 8 to 1 at breeding pools. Each toad couple produced 200–400 eggs each week for the six-week mating period, with each egg approximately 3 mm in diameter. The eggs of the golden toad, black and tan spheres, were deposited in small pools often no more than one-inch deep. Tadpoles emerged in a matter of days, but required another four or five weeks for metamorphosis. During this period, they were highly