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Corytophanes hernandesii (WIEGMANN, 1831)

IUCN Red List - Corytophanes hernandesii - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaCorytophanidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Hernandez’s Helmeted Basilisk
S: Turipache de Montaña 
SynonymChamaeleopsis Hernandesii WIEGMANN in GRAY in GRIFFITH 1831: 45
Chamaeleopsis Hernandesii DEPPE 1830: 3 (nomen nudum)
Chamaeleopsis Hernandesii — WIEGMANN 1831: 298
Chamaeleo mexicanus — WIEGMANN 1831: 296
Corytophanes chamaeleopsis DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1837: 176 (nom. subst.)
Corytophanes (Chamaeleopsis) Hernandesii — FITZINGER 1843: 16
Corytophanes Hernandezii — LICHTENSTEIN 1856: 8
Chamaeleo mexicanus — HERNANDEZ (fide SUMICHRAST 1864)
Corythophanes chamaeleopsis — SUMICHRAST 1864: 505
Corytophanes mexicanus BOCOURT 1874: 122
Corythophanes mexicanus — MÜLLER 1880: 126
Corytophanes mexicanus — COPE 1885: 183
Chamaeleopsis mexicanus — COPE 1885: 379
Corytophanes hernandesii — BOULENGER 1885: 103
Chamaeleopsis hernandesii — BRÜHL 1886
Corytophanes hernandezii — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 68
Corytophanes hernandezi — STUART 1963
Chamaleopsis hernandezi — WIEGMANN 1969 (fide Villa et al. 1988)
Corytophanes hernandezii — LINER 1994
Corytophanes hernandesi — SMITH et al. 1999
Corytophanes hernandesii — WILSON & MCCRANIE 2002
Corytophanes hernandesii — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015
Corytophanes hernandezii — CRUZ-ELIZALDE et al. 2022
Corytophanes hernandesii — HEIMES 2022 
DistributionMexico (Veracruz, Chiapas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Puebla, Campeche, Yucatan), Belize, Guatemala, Honduras; elevation 0-1300 m.

Type locality: Mexico; restricted to Jalapa, Veracruz by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: ZMB 545-546 (adult female and male) 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS. Corytophanes hernandesii can be distinguished from all other species of Corytophanes by having a short, low nuchal crest that is not continuous with the middorsal crest. The species differs from other members of the family Corytophanidae by having a triangular-shaped head casque projecting posteriorly past the head. The casque is formed by sharply raised ridges extending from the canthal region, above the eye, and continuing posteriorly to form a raised casque. The ridges forming the posterior edge of the casque unite and almost immediately curve downward onto the neck. (McCranie et al. 2004)


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CommentThe illustration of C. hernandesii in SCHMIDT & HENKEL (1995) is actually C. cristatus.

Distribution: not in Yucatan state (Mexico) according to GONZÁLEZ-SÁNCHEZ et al. 2017.

Genome: Colston et al. 2025. 
EtymologyNamed after Francisco Hernández, an early explorer whose book about the natural history of Mexico was published posthumously in 1648. 
References
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