Old Rip, Famous Texas Horned Lizard
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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The Texas Horned Lizard
There are more than a dozen species of horned lizards in North America. They're most commonly found in the mid-southern areas of the US. Their main diet is harvest or ants, and they live an average of about seven years. The horns form this sort of crown on the animal's head.
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Old Rip was a reptile with quite a legend. Some people believed that he survived a 31-year entombment in a courthouse cornerstone, and he became celebrity, even gaining an audience with President Calvin Coolidge. But was it all a hoax?
Research:
- “Toad Alive After 31 Years Sealed in Texas Cornerstone.” New York Times. Feb, 20, 1928. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/02/20/91477181.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
- “Coolidge Sees Famous Horned Toad of Texas.” The Greenville News. May 4, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/188233123/?terms=toad&match=1
- “Texas Horned Frog Upsets Scientists.” Times Record News. Feb. 21, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/774886762/
- “Horned Lizard Facts.” Texas Parks and Wildlife. https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/texas_nature_trackers/horned_lizard/facts/#:~:text=Its%20horny%20appearance%20and%20coloration,(actually%2C%20its%20eyelid).
- “RipFest.” https://www.eastlandchamber.com/ripfest/
- “Texas Court Frees Entombed Toad.” New York Times. May 14, 1928. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/05/15/91511824.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
- “Experts Are Skeptical About Horned Frog.” Fort Worth Record-Telegram. Feb 21, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/634555101/?terms=Eastland%2C%20Texas&match=1
- “Old Frog Leaps Back Into Case.” Austin American-Statesman. September 29, 1961. https://www.newspapers.com/image/357861533/
- House, Boyce. “Amazing Story of Rip Is Told in Its Entirety.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Feb, 13, 1938. https://www.newspapers.com/image/636009835/
- “Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum).” Texas Parks and Wildlife. https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/thlizard/
- “Eastland Asks Old Rip’s Return.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram. April 18, 1972. https://www.newspapers.com/image/644137888/?terms=old%20rip&match=1
- “Three-corner Fight Rages for Possession of Eastland’s Reptile.” The Amarillo Globe-Timed. Feb. 27, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/29483459/?terms=will%20m.%20wood&match=1
- “Famous New York Scientist Tells Whopper Frog Tale as Illustration That He Believes Texas Toad Story.” Wichita Falls Times. Feb. 21, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/773773857/
- “’Rip,’ Famous Sleeping Horned Toad, Here but Still Drowsy.” Indianapolis Star. May 1, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/104983172
- “Tulsa Barber Aided in Placing Famous ‘Rip’ Frog in Stone.” The Tulsa Tribune. Feb. 21, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/884100535/?terms=Eastland%2C%20Texas
- “The Spirit of Old Rip to Be Revived.” The Odessa American. Sept. 11, 1977. https://www.newspapers.com/image/301920827/?
- Donnelly, Claire.” How Curious: What Happened To All Of The ‘Horny Toads’?” KGOU. https://www.kgou.org/oklahoma-news/2019-09-10/how-curious-what-happened-to-all-of-the-horny-toads
- “Frog Question Acute and Threatens to Become National.” Wichita Daily Times. Feb. 26, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/773773951/
- “Doubts Horned Toad Tale.” New York Times. February 21, 1928. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/02/21/109853229.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
- Dabney, James. “Letter Reawakens ‘Rip’ Toad Legend.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Sept. 10, 1976. https://www.newspapers.com/image/633757078/
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