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Horned Lizards Squirt Blood From Their Eyes to Survive

Original: 🩸 TIL: Horned # lizards inhabit arid regions of # NorthAmerica and rely on specialized survival strategies against # pre

Horned lizards, which live in arid regions of North America, are being discussed for their unusual defence mechanism: they squirt blood from their eye sinuses under high pressure to deter predators. The blood carries a foul-tasting compound built up from their diet of harvester ants, making the tactic particularly effective against animals that try to eat them.

Why now: The bizarre blood-squirting defence of horned lizards is a striking piece of animal biology that surprises people learning it for the first time.

horned lizardsNorth Americaharvester ants

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Evidence

• 🩸 TIL: Horned # lizards inhabit arid regions of # NorthAmerica and rely on specialized survival strategies against # predators . Their diet of harvester # ants creates a foul-tasting compound in their # blood , which they squirt from their eye sinuses under high pressure to… · tksst@fediscience.org · 5

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