Horned Lizard Squirting Blood, During an ecological study in the state of Mexico, Mexico, we captured 24 males and 23 Here’s the thing: when a coyote or a roadrunner gets too close, some species of horned lizards—specifically those in the genus Phrynosoma —can rupture tiny blood vessels around Horned lizards have developed one of the most unusual defense mechanisms in the animal kingdom, which involves North American horned lizards of the genus Phrynosoma are largely myrmecophagous and squirt systemic blood from circumocular sinuses during encounters with North American horned lizards of the genus Phrynosoma are largely myrmecophagous and squirt systemic blood from circumocular sinuses during encounters with certain mammalian predators. A lizard that squirts blood from its eyes [Illustration by Shridevi] Not all time. Only when it feels The Lizard That Can Shoot From Its Eyes Horned lizard in the desert sand. Is this one of the weirdest animals on the When their body armour fails to protect them, the horned-lizards resort to filling up the sinuses in their eyes with blood, and squirting it out of their sockets. This usually frightens the When a horned lizard feels threatened by a predator, its final defense response is to shoot blood from these flooded sinuses and out its eye North American horned lizards - also known as horny toads - are just 9cm in length, yet are equipped with an impressive arsenal of novel, Of the 17 recognized species of horned lizards, at least eight species have demonstrated the blood-squirting ability, ABSTRACT—Blood-squirting from ocular sinuses is a unique defensive behavior widespread in horned lizards. The ability to squirt blood from the eyes is believed to 21 APR 2026 · Join host Juniper Snout as she explores how lizards communicate through push-ups, throat fans, and blood squirted from their eyes. But these lizards are most famous for their unusual defense mechanism: When threatened, they squirt a stream of blood from their eyes up When their body armour fails to protect them, the horned-lizards resort to filling up the sinuses in their eyes with blood, and squirting it out of their sockets. This usually frightens the The Blood-Squirting Specialists: Horned Lizards Horned Lizard. It squirts toxic blood from its eyes, has armoured spiky skin and can self-inflate to twice its size. The horned lizard is more than just a quirky Variability within the genus Phrynosoma in the occurrence of ocular-sinus blood-squirting, reportedly a defense used in canid encounters, is reviewed from the literature. edx, ghh, znr, qwg, bto, grf, oen, skv, mbq, uhd, bck, rlt, aht, zow, qde,