What is a Horned Frog?
The Horned Frog (actually a lizard) has been TCU’s mascot longer than TCU has been the university’s name. Four students helped make the decision in 1897, when AddRan Christian University (renamed TCU in 1902) was located in Waco. Here are some other facts about the horned frog, one of the country’s most distinctive mascots: The scientific name for this Texas reptile is phrynosoma cornutum; in Greek, phrynos means “a toad” and soma means “body”; in Latin, cornutus means “horned.” Their primary diet is red harvester ants; they’d like 80 to 100 a day. Unfortunately, red ants are falling victim to insecticides and to more aggressive fire ants in much of Texas. The typical Horned Frog is three to five inches long. Horned Frogs are cold-blooded animals and have an unusual pineal gland, resembling a “third eye” on the top of the head, which zoologists believe is part of their system of thermoregulation. When angered or frightened, horned frogs can squirt a fine, four-foot stream of blood from
