Case file · Cryptid
The basilisk of Cyrenaica
Pliny the Elder wrote in 77 CE that the province of Cyrenaica produced the basilisk, a small snake with a white crown-like mark that killed by its glance and scorched plants by its breath.
77 CE · 32.83, 21.86 · status: legend
The sceptical view
Pliny relied on hearsay. The idea may grow out of venomous desert snakes such as cobras or horned vipers.