Brown Basilisk

Brown Basilisk

The Brown Basilisk or Striped Basilisk (in some areas referred to as common Basilisk) is one species of Brown lizard. They are native to Panama, Belize,northwestern Colombia,and Costa Rica,but have been introduced into the U.S. state of Florida as a feral species.

Along with the common Basilisk they have the nickname Jesus lizard because when fleeing from a predator, they are very fast and can even run on top of water. Basilisk actually have large hind feet with flaps of skin between each toe. The fact that they move quickly across the water, aided by their web like feet, gives them the appearance of walking on water.

Male Brown Basilisk can reach 80cm (30 inches) in length and females are somewhat smaller. Their are three crests on their head, along the body and along the tail. They usually appear in brown or olive brown with black stripes.The stripes are usually only on the flanks and on the dorsal crest. They also have a large white stripe, which extend’s from the eyes to the rear legs. The males have a larger crest than females.

The Brown Basilisk generic name is basilicas is taken from the creature of Greek Mythology made up in parts of a rooster , snake , and lion which could turn a man into a stone by a gaze. The basilisk. The name derives from Greek basilisks meaning little king. This epithet was given in Carlos Linnaeus 10Th edition by System Naturae.

Smaller Basilisks can run about 10-20 metres on water without sinking.Young Basilisks can usually run farther than the older ones. If the animal faces danger , it starts to run very fast on the surface of a river or a lake.Then the flaps on its hind feet are opened and thus more surface area is provided for it to run on water.

They are the small infraorder as the iguanas family. like most reptiles, Basilisks are active during the day. They have long toes and sharp claws.Most are under a foot in length,but some may grow up to two feet. Basilisks usually weigh between 200-600 grams. Their maximum lifespan is probably around 7-8 years. In the wild most die younger. Females lay about 2-18 eggs , five to eight times a year. Egg hatch after about three months and the babies weigh about 2 grams. Their outstanding camouflage allows them them to remain motionless and very hard to detect.