About Corytophanes cristatus (Merrem, 1820)
Commonly called the smooth helmeted iguana, this species is a medium-sized lizard with long, slender legs and very long toes. Its body can be grey, olive, brown, black, or reddish-brown, marked with irregular blotches. It can change its skin color for camouflage. As its name suggests, the smooth helmeted iguana has a prominent crest on its head that tapers into a saw-tooth ridge running down its back. This crest is present in both males and females of the species, though male crests are larger than those of females. When fully mature, Corytophanes cristatus measures approximately 9–12 cm (4–5 in) in snout-to-vent length (SVL). It is a non-heliotherm species, which means it does not rely on the sun to raise its body temperature. Instead, it maintains a body temperature of around 26 °C (79 °F), which is close to the temperature of the forest floor habitat it lives in. It is very wary of predators, and will freeze when danger approaches even when the threat is as far as 15 m (49 ft) away. The geographic range of C. cristatus extends from Chiapas in southern Mexico to north-western Colombia. Across this range, it primarily lives in primary and secondary mesic rainforest. It is predominantly tree-dwelling, but also hunts on the forest floor, where it uses leaf litter as a micro-habitat. For reproduction, adult females of this species lay five to six eggs in a dug depression on the forest floor. Researchers speculate that the head crest may be used to excavate these nests.
