Laemanctus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Laemanctus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Conehead Lizard, Laemanctus longipes
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||
|
Laemanctus longipes |
Laemanctus is a genus of corytophanid lizards commonly referred to as conehead lizards or casquehead iguanas.
The genus consists of two recognized species with six subspecies:
- Eastern Casquehead Iguana, Laemanctus longipes
- Serrated Casquehead Iguana, Laemanctus serratus
 |
This lizard article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
REPTILIA 48 REPTILIA 49 Within the family Iguanidae, the subfamily Basiliscinae includes the basilisks, genus Basiliscus; the helmeted iguanas, genus Corytophanes; and the casquehead iguanas, genus Laemanctus. The two species of casquehead iguanas, L. longipes and L. serratus, differ from each other greatly. L. longipes is smaller, has no dorsal crest, and lacks the spiny crown on the helmet that is characteristic of L. serratus. Description The serrated casquehead iguana, Laemanctus serratus Cope, 1864, inhabits tropical rain forests from southern Mexico to Honduras in Central America. It spends most of its time clinging to thin branches, climbing down to the ground only in pursuit of prey or to bury eggs. This lizard reaches a total length of 50–75 centimeters, but three-quarters of the length is tail. The body is laterally flattened and the head is triangular. The name “serratus” refers to the distinctive spiny, or serrated, crest that crowns the head, and a low serrated dorsal crest down the back. The legs and toes are extremely long and thin and well adapted to the arboreal lifestyle of the species. The very long tail is not easily broken off or dropped by autotomy. We usually catch the lizards by their tails, and none have ever broken. The color of the lizard changes from brown to bright green to shades of blue depending on temperature. Dark brown longitudinal stripes are present along the center of the back and on the flanks. Also, dark crossbands appear on the flanks of gravid females. This species does not have evident sexual dimorphism, but distinguishing males from females is not difficult. The male has visible hemipenal bulges at the base of the tail, and also has a wider head with a larger serrated crown than the female. This species is kept in captivity at the Centre of Natural Scientists in Prague, Czech Republic. In 1999, we managed to acquire a pair, both approximately 2 years old. A year later we acquired four juveniles, which were later determined to be three males and one female. All of them were bred in captivity in the Czech Republic. Terrarium The older pair was initially housed in a terrarium of 80 x 80 x 80 centimeters, furnished with thin branches and live plants (Hoya, Schefflera). For substrate we used peat mixed in equal parts with river sand — at least 5 centimeters deep. We provided a large basin for water, but later removed it so the female would not lay eggs in Laemanctus serratus adult with juvenile. Added By: James MacBride Text and photos by Jan Hribal and Veronika Holanova The Casquehead Iguana
