Meet Our Resident
Burpee’s Green Basilisk stuns visitors with its vibrant coloration and ornate crests. Agile and alert, it’s often seen perching on branches above water or basking under UV lights, perfectly mimicking its natural tropical environment.

Connections to the Museum
This species is one of the best examples of adaptation and locomotor innovation. Its ability to run across water demonstrates how morphology drives ecological opportunity—echoing evolutionary transitions seen in fossil reptiles and amphibians throughout Burpee’s exhibits.

Natural History & Behavior
Green Basilisks are semi-aquatic and highly agile. When threatened, they sprint upright across water surfaces using large hind feet with skin fringes that trap air and create lift. They are diurnal and rely on both climbing and swimming to escape predators.

Evolutionary Connections
Members of the Corytophanidae family, basilisks belong to a lineage that radiated throughout tropical America after the uplift of Central America. Their dramatic crests, used for display and thermoregulation, parallel structures in many extinct reptiles—showcasing evolutionary continuity of form and function.

Wild Habitat & Distribution
Found along rivers and forest edges of Central America, where dense vegetation and access to water are abundant.

Conservation & Status
Populations are stable, though local pressures include deforestation and water pollution. Burpee’s captive-bred individual provides a spectacular demonstration of biomechanical adaptation and tropical biodiversity.