Broad-headed Woodlizard

About the Broad-headed Woodlizard

Enyalioides laticeps, the Amazon broad-headed wood lizard, is a dwarf iguanian lizard found abundantly in Amazonian rainforests. They are semi-arboreal. Other common names for these lizards include big-headed stick lizards (lagartijas de palo de cabezonas), Guichenot's dwarf iguana, Amazon dwarf-iguana (Iguana enana amazónica), and Amazon forest dragon.

E. laticeps is a small, ornamented lizard that grows up to 157 millimetres (6.2 in) long and features a very high vertebral crest along its back. They may change color based on environmental factors and rely on rapid running to move around, though they spend the vast majority of their time motionless, blending into the rainforest background (branches, palm fronds) and ambushing prey. When attacked by predators, E. laticeps may remain motionless like a wood stick to avoid predation. If discovered, it may suddenly spring into motion, quickly retreating to burrows in the ground.

The Amazon broad-headed wood lizard has at least sixteen close relatives, most of them found in Amazonian rainforests, such as the red-eyed dwarf-iguana (Enyalioides oshaughnessyi), blue-spotted dwarf-iguana (E. praestabilis), red-throated dwarf... Wikipedia →