We’ve covered several desert species in our ongoing series of Bizarre Beasts, but this one is simply too weird to pass up. The horned lizards (genus Phrynosoma) are a group of lizards found in the southwestern areas of North America. Some may refer to them as “horny toads,” but again, they’re lizards, not toads. They get the name from their large bellies which they can puff up to look threatening, and their posture which is reminiscent of a toad.

They’re innocuous looking enough, for lizards, at least, and some readers may have even seen them at pet stores or reptile shows. A biologist friend of mine actually owns one, and his name is Torito. He’s the horned lizard seen in the title image. (I can’t resist a lizard shout out, sorry, I only get so many chances to make my friends’ pets into internet celebrities. I hope he’s reading this over his morning crickets.)

Anyhow, horned lizards like Torito often rely on camouflage to avoid predators. They bury themselves in sand and rocks to stay hidden, too, as you can see in the photo of him above! While Torito may use his camouflage to feel safe and to await unsuspecting prey like crickets and ants, his species (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) unfortunately lacks the bizarreness that others in his genera possess. The last line of defense.

Certain species of horned lizards have evolved a last-ditch defense called autohemorrhaging. What is that, you ask? Oh, it’s just when you intentionally shoot blood out of your body. No biggie. Horned lizards are able to build up pressure around their eyes and literally shoot a stream of blood up to a meter away. Surprisingly, even though we tend to think of blood as a precious commodity, the sacrifice is worth it if it can save your life. In fact, this behavior has not only evolved in other closely related lizards, but in snakes, too. More than that, autohemorrhaging is also seen in many other types of animals, even in insects! You can watch a video of the horned lizard’s blood sacrifice in action below, courtesy of National Geographic:

I have to make a correction to National Geographic’s excellent video, though! At the end of the video they say it’s “plain old blood,” but research has shown that this may not be the case. In fact, like many insects that have similar behavior, the blood may actually contain a toxin that is noxious to their predators.

In this case, the horned lizards have been found to contain compounds noxious to canids (e.g. coyotes, foxes, wolves) which they continually cycle through their blood.