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Monitor lizard

(Redirected from Varanus)

Many, see text. Monitor lizards are the family Varanidae, a group of lizards which includes the largest living lizard, the Komodo Dragon. Varanidae contains only a single genus: Varanus.

In Australia monitor lizards are known as goannas (See main article).

Origin of Name

It has been said that the name of monitor lizards is derived from a superstition that the creatures would give a warning about the presence of crocodiles. However, this explanation may be apocryphal. According to Wildwatch, the name actually resulted from a mishearing of the Arabic word oaran (lizard) as the German warnen (to warn), which was subsequently Latinized into monitor.

Classification

Genus Varanus

  • Varanus acanthurus: Spiny-tailed goanna or Ridge-tailed monitor
  • Varanus albigularis: White-throated monitor
  • Varanus auffenbergi Peacock monitor
  • Varanus baritji Northern ridge-tailed goanna
  • Varanus beccarii Black tree monitor
  • Varanus bengalensis Bengal monitor
  • Varanus bogerti Louisiade tree monitor
  • Varanus brevicauda Short-tailed monitor
  • Varanus caerulivirens Blue pin-spot monitor
  • Varanus caudolineatus Stripe-tailed goanna
  • Varanus cerambonensis Ceram mangrove monitor
  • Varanus doreanus Blue-tailed monitor
  • Varanus dumerilii Rough-necked monitor
  • Varanus eremius Desert pygmy monitor
  • Varanus exanthematicus: Savannah monitor
  • Varanus finschi Finsch's monitor
  • Varanus flavescens: Yellow mangrove monitor
  • Varanus giganteus: the Perentie
  • Varanus gilleni Pygmy mulga goanna
  • Varanus glauerti Kimberley rock monitor
  • Varanus glebopalma Black-palmed rock monitor
  • Varanus gouldii Sand goanna (also Gould's goanna, or Ground goanna)
  • Varanus griseus Desert monitor
  • Varanus indicus Mangrove monitor
  • Varanus jobiensis Peach-throat monitor
  • Varanus juxtindicus Hakoi
  • Varanus keithhornei Canopy goanna
  • Varanus kingorum King's goanna
  • Varanus komodoensis: Komodo dragon
  • Varanus mabitang Panay monitor
  • Varanus macraei Blue tree monitor
  • Varanus melinus Quince monitor
  • Varanus mertensi: Mertens' water monitor
  • Varanus mitchelli Mitchell's water monitor
  • Varanus nebulosus Clouded monitor
  • Varanus niloticus: Nile monitor
  • Varanus olivaceus Gray's monitor, Butaan
  • Varanus ornatus Ornate monitor
  • Varanus panoptes ] ]
  • Varanus pilbarensis Pilbara rock monitor
  • Varanus prasinus: Emerald tree monitor
  • Varanus primordius Blunt-spined goanna
  • Varanus rosenbergi Rosenberg's goanna
  • Varanus rudicollis: Roughneck monitor
  • Varanus salvadorii: Crocodile monitor, Artrelia
  • Varanus salvator: Water monitor
  • Varanus scalaris Spotted tree goanna
  • Varanus semiremex Mangrove pygmy goanna
  • Varanus spenceri Spencer's goanna
  • Varanus spinulosus St. Isabel mangrove monitor
  • Varanus storri Storr's goanna
  • Varanus telenesetes Lia (Biri), Rossel Island tree monitor
  • Varanus timorensis: Timor tree monitor or Timor monitor
  • Varanus tristis Black-headed tree goanna
  • Varanus varius: Lace goanna
  • Varanus yemenensis Yemen monitor
  • Varanus yuwonoi Tricolor monitor



07-14-2008 23:18:10
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