Plumed basilisk
Basiliscus plumifrons
— Where the name comes from
Basilískos in Greek is “little king”, and in antiquity it named a fabulous serpent that killed with a look and wore a white mark like a diadem on its head. The name passed to these lizards for the crest the male carries on head, back and tail. Plumifrons means “feather-fronted”.
— Facts
- Group
- Reptiles · Reptilia
- Order
- Squamates
- Habitat
- Rainforest along streams and rivers
- Range
- From southern Mexico to Panama, on the Atlantic slope
- Size
- 60–90 cm including the tail, 200–600 g
- Diet
- Insects, spiders, small vertebrates, flowers and fruit
- Lifespan
- 10 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It sleeps on branches above water and drops in if disturbed.
- 02
It stays under for up to half an hour by slowing its heart.
- 03
Only the adult male has the three crests, which exist to get him chosen.
— What sets it apart
It runs on water, and the physics of how has been measured. The foot strikes the surface in three movements — slap, backward push, quick withdrawal — creating a cavity of air beneath the sole; as long as the foot leaves before the cavity closes, the animal does not sink. It takes about a metre and a half per second and hind feet with skin flaps between the toes: a young basilisk covers twenty metres that way, a heavy adult far less.
