Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Jeff,
You brought up this subject a while back. I came across this while reading today: ( MANAGEMENT OF TEXAS HORNED LIZARDS
Scott E. Henke and Wm. Scott Fair Research Scientists)

"The gravid female excavates a slanted hole
4 to 6 inches in vertical depth and about 3 inches in
diameter (Reeve 1952, Ramsey 1956, Peslak 1985).
Eggs are deposited in 2 to 3 layers; each layer is
covered with soil (Reeve 1952, Sherbrooke 1981).
Once laying is completed, the female refills the hole
with excavated soil, rakes the surrounding surface
to disguise the nest (Ramsey 1956), and leaves the
site (Sherbrooke 1981)."

Does it seem plausable that the different layers of the nest-making process might expose the different sets of eggs to different temps, thereby allowing for a good mix of male / female hatchlings?

Just a thought.
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Cables Home
2 Kings 6:15-17

It could be. I'm not sure about the variation in temps 6 to 12 inches below the surface. Do they stay rather constant? It seems HLs dig a few inches past the moisture level before they lay. In dry years they have to dig very deep. I'm not sure what the temperature varients are depending on depth. In a recent post Lester stated in warmer years the ratio of male to female is leaning much toward males which would indicate air temperature is more a factor than the moisture depth theory.