Greater short-horned lizard its close relative the pygmy short-horned lizard ("Phrynosoma douglasii" ), which has the same basic body type consisting of small pointed scales around the head and back. Until recent mitochondrial DNA evidence, "P. hernandesi" was considered to be the same species as "P. douglasii". They are now considered distinct species with the pygmy short-horned lizard ("P. douglasii" ) occupying the northwest portion of the United States and extreme southern British Columbia. When placed together the two are easily distinguished at full size, the pygmy short-horned lizard being much smaller. "P. hernandesi" is a highly variable species with different geographic populations
Bucca (mythological creature) in Cornish tin mines, granting wishes in exchange for food (see knockers). Bucca (mythological creature) Bucca is a male sea-spirit in Cornish folklore - a merman- that inhabited mines and coastal communities as a hobgoblin during storms. The mythological creature is a type of water spirit likely related to the Púca from Irish and Welsh folklore and the female mari-morgans - a type of mermaid from Welsh and Breton mythology. Rev W. S. Lach-Szyrma, one 19th-century writer on Cornish antiquities, suggested the Bucca had originally been an ancient pagan deity of the sea such as Irish Nechtan or British Nodens,