Smooth helmeted iguana

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Smooth helmeted iguana
Corytophanes cristatus (Rara Avis).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Corytophanidae
Genus: Corytophanes
Species:
C. cristatus
Binomial name
Corytophanes cristatus
(Merrem 1820) [2]
Synonyms [2]

The smooth helmeted iguana (Corytophanes cristatus), [1] [2] [3] also known as the helmeted iguana, the helmeted basilisk, the elegant helmeted lizard, and several other common names, [3] is a species of Basilisk and a New World lizard in the family Corytophanidae. [1] [2] The species is native to southern Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America.

Contents

Taxonomic history

Etymology

The smooth helmeted iguana is named for the prominent casque, or crest on the back of its head and neck which has the appearance of a helmet.

Evolutionary history

The Corytophanidae family of lizards is thought to have Euramerican and Laurasian ancestral beginnings, and is believed to have moved down to the tropics after the Eocene period cooling, approximately 33–56 million years ago. [4]

Geographic range and habitat

C. cristatus can be found ranging from Chiapas in southern Mexico to north-western Colombia. The habitat it primarily occupies in this range is primary and secondary mesic rain-forest. It lives predominantly in trees, but also hunts on the forest floor where it uses leaf litter as a micro-habitat. [5]

Description

The smooth helmeted iguana is a medium-sized lizard with long slim legs and very long toes. It can be grey, olive, brown, black or reddish-brown with irregular blotches. [6] The smooth helmeted iguana can change the color of its skin as a method of camouflage. As indicated by its name, the smooth helmeted iguana has a prominent crest on its head, which tapers to a saw-tooth ridge down its back. The crest is present in both males and females of the species, though the crest is larger in males. [7] C. cristatus is approximately 9–12 cm (4–5 in) in snout-to-vent length (SVL) when mature. [8] It is a non-heliotherm species, meaning that it does not use the sun to increase its body temperature. Rather, it maintains its body temperature at around 26 °C (79 °F), close to the temperature of the forest floor habitat where it lives. [8] It is very wary of predators and freezes at the approach of danger from up to 15 m (49 ft) away. [8]

Behavior and ecology

Reproduction

Adult females of C. cristatus lay five to six eggs in a depression on the forest floor. It is speculated that the crest on the head may be used in excavating the nest. [6]

Diet

C. cristatus feeds on insects, spiders, worms, and other lizards. C. cristatus is an extreme "sit and wait" predator, and its foraging is brief and infrequent. Therefore, this lizard is considered to be an opportunistic feeders. [8] It is also a specialist feeder that preys on extremely large arthropods and cicadas when available. [8] [9] If it has no luck being a sit and wait predator, it will sometimes become an active predator and look for its next meal. Typically, if this is the method it chooses, it will choose prey that is slow and easy to capture. [8]

Interactions with algae and fungi

The smooth helmeted iguana has been observed to remain motionless for extended periods of time. It is thought that this behavior has resulted in its skin being used as a novel growing substrate for a species of fungus, Physarum pusillum . This species of lizard is also the only known vertebrate observed with a cormophytic plant growing on it. [5]

Color change

The smooth helmeted iguana, like chameleons and iguanas, have the ability to change its coloration from dark to light or vice versa, which aids in thermoregulation when basking in sunlight.

Conservation

The smooth helmeted iguana is common and widespread throughout its native range. There are no current conservation concerns for this species, although deforestation can be a localized threat to smooth helmeted iguana populations. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizard</span> Informal group of reptiles

Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes, encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The grouping is paraphyletic as some lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corytophanidae</span> Family of lizards

Corytophanidae is a family of iguanian lizards, also called casquehead lizards or helmeted lizards, endemic to the New World. Nine species of casquehead lizards from three genera are recognized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plumed basilisk</span> Species of lizard

The plumed basilisk, also called the green basilisk, double crested basilisk, or Jesus Christ lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Corytophanidae. The species is native to Central America.

<i>Corytophanes</i> Genus of lizards

Corytophanes is a genus of Neotropical lizards, commonly called helmeted iguanas or basilisks, in the family Corytophanidae. The genus contains three arboreal species and resides in tropical forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern crested newt</span> Species of amphibian

The northern crested newt, great crested newt or warty newt is a newt species native to Great Britain, northern and central continental Europe and parts of Western Siberia. It is a large newt, with females growing up to 16 cm (6.3 in) long. Its back and sides are dark brown, while the belly is yellow to orange with dark blotches. Males develop a conspicuous jagged crest on their back and tail during the breeding season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common basilisk</span> Species of lizard

The common basilisk is a species of lizard in the family Corytophanidae. The species is endemic to Central America and South America, where it is found near rivers and streams in rainforests. It is also known as the Jesus Christ lizard, Jesus lizard, South American Jesus lizard, or lagarto de Jesus Cristo for its ability to run on the surface of water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert iguana</span> Species of lizard

The desert iguana is an iguana species found in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, as well as on several Gulf of California islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine iguana</span> Species of marine reptile endemic to Galapagos Islands

The marine iguana, also known as the sea iguana, saltwater iguana, or Galápagos marine iguana, is a species of iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). Unique among modern lizards, it is a marine reptile that has the ability to forage in the sea for algae, which makes up almost all of its diet. Marine iguanas are the only extant lizard that spends time in a marine environment. Large males are able to dive to find this food source, while females and smaller males feed during low tide in the intertidal zone. They mainly live in colonies on rocky shores where they bask after visiting the relatively cold water or intertidal zone, but can also be seen in marshes, mangrove swamps and beaches. Large males defend territories for a short period, but smaller males have other breeding strategies. After mating, the female digs a nest hole in the soil where she lays her eggs, leaving them to hatch on their own a few months later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhinoceros iguana</span> Species of iguana endemic to the Caribbean

The rhinoceros iguana is an endangered species of iguana that is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and its surrounding islands. A large lizard, they vary in length from 60 to 136 centimetres, and skin colours range from a steely grey to a dark green and even brown. Their name derives from the bony-plated pseudo-horn or outgrowth which resembles the horn of a rhinoceros on the iguana's snout. It is known to coexist with the Ricord's iguana ; the two species are the only taxa of rock iguana to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiji crested iguana</span> Species of lizard

The Fiji crested iguana or Fijian crested iguana is a critically endangered species of iguana native to some of the northwestern islands of the Fijiian archipelago, where it is found in dry forest on Yaduataba, Yadua, Macuata, Yaquaga, Devuilau, Malolo, Monu and Monuriki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guatemalan helmeted basilisk</span> Species of lizard

The Guatemalan helmeted basilisk is a species of lizard in the family Corytophanidae. The species is native to Central America and southern Mexico.

<i>Enyalioides laticeps</i> Species of lizard

Enyalioides laticeps, the Amazon broad-headed wood lizard, is a dwarf iguanian lizard abundantly found in Amazonian rainforests. They are semi-arboreal and mostly live in forests. Other names for it include broad-headed wood lizards, Big-headed stick lizards, Guichenot's Dwarf Iguana, Amazon Forest Dragon, or Amazon Dwarf-Iguana.

Henry Carl Aldrich was an American mycologist born in Beaumont, Texas.

Babibasiliscus is an extinct genus of casquehead lizard that lived in what is now Wyoming during the early Eocene, approximately 48 million years ago. The genus is known from a single species, Babibasiliscus alxi, which was named by paleontologist Jack Conrad in 2015 on the basis of a fossilized skull from the Bridger Formation in the Green River Basin. The name Babibasiliscus comes from the Shoshoni word babi, meaning "older male cousin", and Basiliscus, a modern-day genus of casquehead lizards. The specimen is undeformed and nearly complete except for the tip of the snout and the top of the skull, making it unclear whether the distinctive bony crest of living corytophanids was present in prehistoric relatives like Babibasiliscus. The skull is about 42 millimetres (2 in) in length and the entire body is estimated to have been about 0.6 metres (2 ft) long. Bones on the right side of lower jaw of the specimen are thickened and fused together, suggesting that the jaw had broken and healed when the animal was alive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casque (anatomy)</span> Anatomical feature in birds

A casque is an anatomical feature found in some species of birds, reptiles, and amphibians. In birds, it is an enlargement of the bones of the upper mandible or the skull, either on the front of the face, or the top of the head, or both. The casque has been hypothesized to serve as a visual cue to a bird's sex, state of maturity, or social status; as reinforcement to the beak's structure; or as a resonance chamber, enhancing calls. In addition, they may be used in combat with other members of the same species, in the gathering of food, or in thermoregulation.

<i>Corytophanes hernandesii</i> Species of lizard

Corytophanes hernandesii, also known commonly as Hernandez's helmeted basilisk and el turipache de montaña in Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Corytophanidae. The species is native to Central America and southern Mexico.

<i>Laemanctus serratus</i> Species of lizard

Laemanctus serratus, also known commonly as the serrated casquehead iguana, is a species of lizard in the family Corytophanidae. The species is native to southeastern Mexico and Central America. There are two recognized subspecies.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 Corytophanes cristatus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 6 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 Wrobel, Murray (4 December 2004). Elsevier's Dictionary of Reptiles. Elsevier. p. 129. ISBN   978-0-08-045920-2.
  4. Conrad, Jack L. (2015-07-01). "A new Eocene casquehead lizard (Reptilia, Corytophanidae) from North America". PLOS ONE. 10 (7): e0127900. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1027900C. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127900 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4489568 . PMID   26131767.
  5. 1 2 Townsend, J.H.; Aldrich, H.C.; Wilson, L.D.; McCranie, J.R. (2005-03-01). "First report of sporangia of a myxomycete (Physarum pusillum) on the body of a living animal, the lizard Corytophanes cristatus ". Mycologia. 97 (2): 346–348. doi:10.3852/mycologia.97.2.346. ISSN   0027-5514. PMID   16396342.
  6. 1 2 Leenders, Twan (2017-01-31). Amphibians of Costa Rica. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. doi:10.7591/9781501706165. ISBN   9781501706165.
  7. Taylor, G.W.; Santos, J.C.; Perrault, B.J.; Morando, M.; Vásquez Almazán, C.R.; Sites, J.W. (2017-09-25). "Sexual dimorphism, phenotypic integration, and the evolution of head structure in casque-headed lizards". Ecology and Evolution. 7 (21): 8989–8998. doi:10.1002/ece3.3356. ISSN   2045-7758. PMC   5689487 . PMID   29177036.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andrews, Robin M. (1979). "The lizard Corytophanes cristatus: an extreme "sit-and-wait" predator". Biotropica. 11 (2): 136–139. doi:10.2307/2387791. ISSN   0006-3606. JSTOR   2387791.
  9. Vitt, Laurie J.; Zani, Peter A. (1998). "Prey use among sympatric lizard species in lowland rain forest of Nicaragua". Journal of Tropical Ecology. 14 (4): 537–559. doi:10.1017/s0266467498000388. ISSN   0266-4674.

Further reading