HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Texas) 02 October 05 Newly hatched horned frog right at home in Fort Worth
The zoo is first in Texas to breed the reptile, which is disappearing from the landscape
Fort Worth: The Fort Worth Zoo's newest resident may be rare in Texas, but he'll feel right at home in this town.
Zookeepers have bred and hatched a Texas horned lizard, better known — especially among fans of hometown Texas Christian University — as the horned frog.
The zoo was the first in the state to hatch one of the reptiles, which are disappearing from the Texas landscape, said zoo spokeswoman Lindsay Nantz. Once abundant, they're now a threatened species.
Because little is known about how to breed and raise them, zookeepers Aaron Dickey and Erin McNally researched the lizards for two years. Then they put together two of the adult lizards that the zoo already had, and the reptiles produced the egg.
In August, the little guy emerged.
Weighing less than a gram at birth, he has grown to larger than the size of a penny, thanks to a diet of termites and ants.
He could grow to 7 inches long, Nantz said, and be ready for exhibit by mid-October, at the zoo just blocks from TCU.
"We got him here in time for football season," Nantz said.
Newly hatched horned frog right at home in Fort Worth