Northern desert horned lizard occurs primarily in Nevada, where its range covers most of the state, but its territory also extends into parts of Idaho, Utah, and Oregon. Northern desert horned lizard The northern desert horned lizard ("Phrynosoma platyrhinos platyrhinos") is a subspecies of the desert horned lizard, along with the southern desert horned lizard ("P. p. calidiarum"). It is often referred to as a "horny toad" due to its wide body and blunt snout, but it is not a toad. It ranges in size between from snout to cloaca, and can get to long including the tail. Like all horned lizards, it features
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