THE STATUS OF SHORT-HORNED LIZARDS, PHRYNOSOMA-DOUGLASI AND P-HERNANDEZI, IN CANADA

Short-horned Lizards reach their northern distribution limits in Briti sh Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Two specimens of the Pygmy Sho rt-horned Lizard (P. douglasi) were reported in 1898 from the vicinity of Osoyoos, British Columbia; there have been no validated sightings since. It was probably found on the sandy lacustrine terraces lining t he bottom of the Okanagan Valley in the vicinity of Osoyoos Lake, but intensive searches of this area in August 1991 were negative. The Shor t-horned Lizard (P. hernandezi) has an interrupted distribution in sou theastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. The vegetation within its range in these provinces is mixed grass prairie within the dry st eppe climatic region. Populations in these provinces are confined to s outh-facing slopes, grassland-badlands ecotones, and Bearpaw shale out crops. The distribution appears to be relictual. Phrynosoma douglasi i s apparently extirpated in British Columbia and Phrynosoma hernandezi is vulnerable in Alberta and Saskatchewan.