This lizard, named after the snake monster, has the ability to walk on water.

In the martial arts novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Qiu Qianren, the leader of the Iron Palm Gang, is famous in the martial arts world for his two unique skills, "Iron Sand Palm" and "Water Floating". He can defeat the enemy with one move and escape with another, and can be said to be able to advance or retreat. In the real world, there is a type of lizard that has also mastered the skill of "Water Floating" and developed it into a unique survival skill. This is the crown lizard (Basiliscus spp.).

A lizard that can float on water | Youtube: @JoeGMovies

Members of the genus Basiliscus are widely distributed in Central America and the adjacent northwestern region of South America. There are currently four known species in this genus, namely Basiliscus basiliscus, B. galeritus, B. plumifrons and B. vittatus. Among them, the B. plumifrons, also known as the green double-crowned lizard , is the largest and most well-known member of the genus, and is also the protagonist of this issue of the "Species Calendar".

Wearing two crowns, male and female

The Corytophanidae family, to which the green double-crested lizard belongs, has only 3 genera and 11 species. Each member of the family has a bone crown of different shapes on its head - the crown of the Corytophanes genus is exaggerated, the crown of the Laemanctus genus is short and sharp, while the crown of the Corytophanes genus is quite standard. The green double-crested lizard is the only species in the Corytophanes genus with two crowns . Its specific epithet "plumifrons" consists of two parts - "pluma" means "feather" in Latin, and "frons" means "in front", which describes the small crown like a small feather in front of its main crown.

A male green double-crested lizard with a small crest in front of the main crest. | Connor Long / Wikimedia Commons

Adult green double-crested lizards are 60 to 90 centimeters long and weigh 300 to 500 grams. They are emerald green or blue-green in color, with bright yellow eyes on their heads, and light blue or yellow dots on both sides of their bodies. In addition to two head crests, adult males also have a well-developed dorsal crest and caudal crest. In contrast, the head crests, dorsal crests, and caudal crests of females and juveniles are underdeveloped.

Female green double-crested lizards have an indistinct crest and crest. Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons

Male green double-crowned lizards have a strong sense of territory and are polygamous, so there will be a group of females in the territory of one male . Female green double-crowned lizards usually lay 5 to 15 eggs in hot and humid sand or soil. At a temperature of 28 to 31 degrees Celsius, the baby lizards can be hatched after 60 to 90 days.

It is a basilisk and also a god.

The genus name "Basiliscus" and the English name "Basilisk" of the crown lizard are both derived from the name of the "basilisk" in Norse mythology.

There are many versions of the image of the "Basilisk". According to Pliny the Elder's "Natural History", the "Basilisk" is a small snake with extremely toxic venom, only 12 inches (about 30 cm) in length, with a crown-like headdress on its head; not only can the teeth of the "Basilisk" secrete venom, but the land it crawls on will also leave poisonous mucus, and even just looking at it will turn you into stone. There are also legends that the "Basilisk" is a monster with wings that can spit out flames from its mouth. However, no matter how the appearance of each version changes, the feature of the "crown" on the head is retained , so Linnaeus gave the name "Basilisk" to the crowned lizard.

The basilisk depicted in a book published in 1640 looks more like a chicken-headed monster with a snake-tailed tail | Ulisse Aldrovandi / Serpentum et draconum historia

Compared with the name "basilisk", the crown lizard's other common name "Jesus Christ lizard" seems much more sacred. The most famous skill of the crown lizard is to run fast on the water. Regarding this stunt, we Chinese often think of Qiu Qianren, the "iron palm water floater"; while in the West, people are more likely to think of the story recorded in the "Gospel of Matthew" that Jesus walked on the water and rescued the suffering disciples , and the name "Jesus Christ lizard" came from this.

Unique water rafting

In addition to the green double-crested lizard and its close relatives, there are many other animals in nature that can walk on the water. Their abilities seem similar, but they have different principles behind them. The middle and hind legs of the sand bug have fine, hydrophobic bristles at the end, which can "float" on the water using the surface tension of water; the North American grebe treads water at a high frequency of 14 to 20 times per second, combined with wide webbed feet, to achieve a difficult courtship dance; the Amazonian flat-nosed tiger (Chatogekko amazonicus) floats on the water with its small body and impermeable keratin scales to resist flooding.

Crested lizards can also float on water, but the principle is different | Youtube: @JoeGMovies

The principle of running on the water surface of the crowned lizard is similar to that of the above species, but it also has its own unique features. Due to its body size, it cannot stay on the water surface simply by relying on the surface tension of the water like the sand bug. Therefore, treading water at high speed like the grebe seems to be the only solution. However, the toes of the crowned lizard are thin and long, and there are no webbed feet between the toes. How do they do it?

The answer lies in their toes - the third, fourth, and fifth toes of the crowned lizard are extremely slender and have serrated comb edges on the bottom. The comb edges are thin and small, and cannot provide enough propulsion in the water like flippers; but when the crowned lizard's feet step into the water, the impact of the comb edges will form "air pockets" in the water. The pressure difference generated by the "air pockets" on the water surface gives the crowned lizard an upward force, and also makes it easier for the crowned lizard to lift its feet out of the water. Coupled with a running speed of 10 kilometers per hour, the crowned lizard can easily perform the stunt of "floating on water".

Three-dimensional hindlimb kinematics of water running in the plumed basilisk lizard (Basiliscus plumifrons), The Journal of Experimental Biology

The skill of "walking on water" is a great test of physical fitness. Generally, an adult green double-crested lizard can walk continuously on the water for 5 to 10 meters. As the pace slows down and the speed decreases, it will continue to escape by swimming. The juveniles are lighter in weight and have a stronger ability to walk on the water. It is not a problem for them to walk on water for more than 10 meters continuously, which is enough to cope with the small rivers commonly seen in the rainforest and avoid the pursuit of natural enemies.

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward