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Basiliscus plumifrons COPE, 1875

IUCN Red List - Basiliscus plumifrons - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaCorytophanidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Green Basiisk
G: Stirnlappenbasilisk 
SynonymBasiliscus plumifrons COPE 1876: 125
Basiliscus plumifrons — BOULENGER 1885: 108
Basiliscus plumifrons — PETERS & DONOSO-BARROS 1970: 84
Basiliscus plumifrons — LANG 1989
Basiliscus plumifrons — BONETTI 2002: 117
Basiliscus plumifrons — SAVAGE 2002: 430
Basiliscus plumifrons — MCCRANIE 2018
Basiliscus plumifrons — MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA et al. 2024 
DistributionHonduras, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua

Type locality: Sipurio, Costa Rica.  
Reproductionoviparous; one of the few parthenogenetic iguanian lizards (KUHN & SCHMIDT 2003). 
TypesSyntypes: INHS (= UIMNH) 40735, USNM 32622-32627 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: Adult males of this species, with their bipartite head crest (fig. 10.17c), well-developed dorsal and caudal crests, bright green coloration, and red eyes, are so striking in visual impact as to never be confused with any other animal. Females and juveniles are somewhat less impressive than the dragonlike males but are distinctive in their bright green coloration (only the head is bright green in very small juveniles). Coloration alone should distinguish female and juvenile examples of this species from other Basiliscus, but they are further distinctive in having smooth ventral scales (keeled in B. vitattus) and occipital scales much: smaller than the enlarged supraoculars (as large as or larger than in B. basiliscus) (fig. 10.18). (Savage 2002)


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CommentDistribution: see maps in Lang 1989: 124, 130, Savage 2002: 430. 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin “pluma” (= feather), and “frons” = (forepart), referring to the small feather-like blade anterior to the larger posterior parietal blade 
References
  • Abraham, G. 1982. Das Portrait: Basiliscus plumifrons - Stirnlappenbasilisk. Sauria 4 (2): 1-2 - get paper here
  • Alvarado, R., Alvarado, E. V., López, L. I., Umaña, D., & Mora, J. M. 2022. Predation of a Juvenile Iguana rhinolopha (Squamata: Iguanidae) by Basiliscus plumifrons (Squamata: Corytophanidae) in the Costa Rican Rainforest. Caribbean Journal of Science, 52(2), 203-208 - get paper here
  • Batista, A., Hertz, A., Ponce, M. and Lotzkat, S. 2020. Notes on amphibians and reptiles from western Panama Notes on amphibians and reptiles from western Panama. Herpetology Notes 13: 219-229. - get paper here
  • Bonetti, Mathilde 2002. 100 Sauri. Mondadori (Milano), 192 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1875. On the Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica with notes on the herpetology and ichthyology of Nicaragua and Peru. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia N.S. (2) 8: 93-183 [sometimes said to be published 1876 but see Murphy et al. 2007 for clarification]] - get paper here
  • Henderson, C.L. 2010. Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica - A field guide. University of Texas Press, Austin, 198 pp.
  • Hilje B, Chaves G, Klank J, Timmerman F, Feltham J, Gillingwater S, Piraino T, Rojas E 2020. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve: a baseline for conservation, research and environmental education in a lowland tropical wet forest in Costa Rica. Check List 16(6): 1633-1655 - get paper here
  • Hirth, H.F. 1963. Food of Basiliscus plumifrons on a Tropical Strand Herpetologica 18 (4): 276-277. - get paper here
  • Kober, I. 1998. Stirnlappenbasilisken im Terrarium. Elaphe 6 (3): 9-14
  • Kober, I. 2004. Der Stirnlappenbasilisk, Basiliscus plumifrons. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 64 pp. - get paper here
  • Kober, Ingo 2012. Basiliscus plumifrons, der Stirnlappenbasilisk: Erfahrungen aus 20 Jahren Haltung und Vermehrung im Terrarium. Teil 2: Pflege und Nachzucht. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (3): 62-67 - get paper here
  • Kober, Ingo 2012. Basiliscus plumifrons, der Stirnlappenbasilisk: Erfahrungen aus 20 Jahren Haltung und Vermehrung im Terrarium. Teil 1: Einrichtung und Technik. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (2): 36-45 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2000. Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Bd 1: Krokodile, Schildkröten, Echsen. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach, 158 pp.
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • Kuhn, M. & Schmidt, D. 2003. Parthenogenese beim Dunklen Tigerpython (Python molurus bivittatus). Reptilia (Münster) 8 (44): 78-82 - get paper here
  • Laerm, J. 1974. A functional analysis of morphological variation and differential niche utilization in basilisk lizards. Ecology 55 (2): 404-411 - get paper here
  • Lang, M. 1989. Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Patterns of Basiliscine Iguanians (Reptilia: Squamata: "Iguanidae"). Bonner Zool. Monogr. 28: 1-172 - get paper here
  • Lattanzio, Matthew S. and Thomas C. LaDuke 2012. Habitat Use and Activity Budgets of Emerald Basilisks (Basiliscus plumifrons) in Northeast Costa Rica. Copeia 2012 (3): 465-471. - get paper here
  • Leptien, R. & Werning, H. 2009. Exoten-Tagebuch. [introduced reptiles in Florida]. Draco 10 (37): 44-54 - get paper here
  • Lewis, T.R. & Grant, P.B.C. 2009. Communal behaviour by Basiliscus plumifrons (Cope 1876) in a Manicaria swamp forest, northeast Costa Rica. Boletín de la Asociación Herpetológica Española 20: 35-37 - get paper here
  • Martínez-Fonseca JG, Holmes IA, Sunyer J, Westeen EP, Grundler MR, Cerda PA, Fernández-Mena MA, Loza-Molina JC, Monagan IV Jr., Nondorf D, Pandelis GG, Rabosky ARD 2023. A collection and analysis of amphibians and reptiles from Nicaragua with new country and departmental records. Check List 20(1): 58-125 - get paper here
  • Maturana, H. R. 1962. A study of the species of the genus Basiliscus. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 128: 1-34 - get paper here
  • McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here
  • McCranie, James R. 2018. The Lizards, Crocodiles, and Turtles of Honduras. Systematics, Distribution, and Conservation. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Special Publication Series (2): 1- 666 - get paper here
  • Mora, J. M., and Bárbara I. Escobar-Anleu. 2017. River rocks as sleeping perches for Norops oxylophus and Basiliscus plumifrons in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (2): 418–422 - get paper here
  • MURPHY R. W., SMITH A. and NGO A. 2007. The versions of Cope's Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 7 (1): - get paper here
  • Perron, S. 1974. Erfolgreiche Haltung und Nachzucht von Basiliscus basiliscus und Basiliscus plumifrons (Sauria, Iguanidae). Salamandra 10 (2): 61-65 - get paper here
  • Rese, Rolf 1987. Basiliscus plumifrons COPE, 1876. Sauria 9 (3) Suppl.: 087–088 - get paper here
  • Rosales, M. Q., Mora, J. M., & Alvarado, R. 2023. Predation of Lepidophyma flavimaculatum (Squamata: Xantusiidae) by Basiliscus plumifrons (Squamata: Corytophanidae). Phyllomedusa: Journal of Herpetology, 22(1), 69-74 - get paper here
  • Sasa, M., Arias, E., & Chaves, G. 2025. Annotated list of amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: The role of the Museum of Zoology in cataloging the country’s herpetological diversity. Revista de Biología Tropical, 73(S2): e64536-e64536 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. University of Chicago Press, 934 pp. [review in Copeia 2003 (1): 205]
  • Solís, J. M., L. D. Wilson, and J. H. Townsend. 2014. An updated list of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with comments on their nomenclature. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 123–144 - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier & José́ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca 2023. An updated country checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. REVISTA NICARAGÜENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD (100): 1-25 - get paper here
  • Taylor, E. H. 1956. A review of the lizards of Costa Rica. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 38 (part 1): 3-322 - get paper here
  • Vieira, G. H. C., Colli, G. R. & Báo, S. N. 2005. Phylogenetic relationships of corytophanid lizards (Iguania, Squamata, Reptilia) based on partitioned and total evidence analyses of sperm morphology, gross morphology, and DNA data. Zoologica Scripta 34 (6): 605-625. - get paper here
  • Werning, H. 2010. Ein Stück Natur im Wohnzimmer. Reptilia (Münster) 15 (84): 16-23 - get paper here
  • Werning, H. 2015. Jurassic World im Wohnzimmer. Mini-Dinos für das Terrarium. Reptilia (Münster) 20 (114): 26-37 - get paper here
  • Werning, H. 2019. Die Herrscher des Waldes – baumbewohnende Leguane. Reptilia (Münster) 24 (138): 14-19 - get paper here
  • Wirth, Michael 2012. Ökologie der Basilisken und Freilandbeobachtungen in Costa Rica. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (2): 24-35 - get paper here
  • Wirth, Michael 2012. Basilisken. Spektakuläre Vertreter der Leguane. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (2): 14-32 - get paper here
  • Young, Allen M. 2014. Basiliscus plumifrons (double-crested basilisk lizard) antagonistic behavior. Herpetological Review 45 (4): 694-695 - get paper here
 
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