ENVIORNMENTAL NEWS LINK (Washington, DC) 12 January 06 Fish and Wildlife Service reinstates proposed rule to list the flat-tailed horned lizard
Washington: In response to a recent court decision, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reinstated the 1993 proposed rule to list the flat-tailed horned lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) as a threatened species. The Service said it will complete a final listing decision for the flat-tailed horned lizard by April 30, 2006.
The flat-tailed horned lizard is a small, cryptically colored, phrynosomatid lizard that reaches a maximum adult body length (excluding the tail) of approximately 87 millimeters (3.4 inches). The lizard has a flattened body, short tail, and dagger-like head spines like other horned lizards. It is distinguished from other horned lizards in its range by a dark vertebral stripe, two slender elongated occipital spines, and the absence of external ear openings. The dorsal surface of the flat-tailed horned lizard is pale gray to light rusty brown. The ventral side is white and unmarked, with the exception of a prominent umbilical scar.
The flat-tailed horned lizard is endemic (restricted) to the Sonoran Desert in southern California, Arizona and northwestern Mexico. The species is documented from the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, California; the Imperial and Borrego Valleys in Imperial and eastern San Diego Counties, California; south of the Gila River and west of the Gila and Butler Mountains in Yuma County, Arizona; east of the Sierra de Juarez in the Laguna Salada and Yreka Basins in northeastern Baja California Norte, Mexico; and north and west of Bahia de San Jorge to the delta of the Colorado River in northwestern Sonora, Mexico (Grismer 2002; Rodriguez 2002). The flat-tailed horned lizard occurs at elevations up to 800 meters (2600 feet) above sea level, but most populations are below 300 meters (980 feet) elevation.
For additional background information and previous Federal actions related to the listing determinations for the flat-tailed horned lizard, refer to the January 3, 2003, Federal Register notice (68 FR 331).
FWS reinstates proposed rule to list the flat-tailed horned lizard