#1825 · 🦎 reptiles
Helmeted Iguana
🇳🇱 Helmleguaan ·Corytophanes cristatus
📍 GV8J+4J3, Santa Fe, Panama
📍 Girón, Santander, Colombia
📍 Pococi, Limon, CR
📍 Alajuela Province, San Carlos, Costa Rica
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Josue Ramos Galdamez · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Omar Carax · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Khristian Venegas Valencia · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Brian Gratwicke · CC BY 4.0
- 5. © Marilyn Castillo Muñoz · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 6. © Manuel de Jesús Hernández Ancheita · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 7. GV8J+4J3, Santa Fe, Panama:© Bruno de Medeiros · CC BY 4.0
- 8. Girón, Santander, Colombia:© Lepidoptera Colombiana 🇨🇴 · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Pococi, Limon, CR:© Gina Genduso · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Alajuela Province, San Carlos, Costa Rica:© jmole · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The helmeted iguana ( Corytophanes cristatus ) is a species of lizard endemic to the New World. It is found from southern Mexico to South America in rainforests. With long limbs, it climbs well, and feeds on insects, spiders, worms, and other lizards.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 3,667 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Blasius Merrem in 1820 (206 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Helmeted Iguana
- Nederlands
- Helmleguaan
- scientific name
- Corytophanes cristatus
- class
- Reptilia
- order
- Squamata
- family
- Corytophanidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 3,667
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1820 by Blasius Merrem
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Corytophanidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 83516, Wikidata Q555740, GBIF 2448667, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.