Monitor lizard
Monitor lizards, the genus Varanus, are also known as biawak or goannas. They are members of the family Varanidae. Their closest living relatives are the anguid and Heloderma lizards.
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| Genus: | Varanus
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Varanus is a genus of largely carnivorous lizards. There are about 60 species in 10 subgenera. The species cover a vast area, occurring through Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, to China, down Southeast Asia to Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia and islands of the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea. A large concentration of monitor lizards occurs on Tioman Island in the Malaysian state of Pahang. Some are now found in South Florida, particularly in the Everglades.
Monitor lizards have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. The species include the largest living lizard, the Komodo dragon, and the crocodile monitor.
Most monitors are terrestrial, but arboreal and semi-aquatic
Monitor Lizard Media
Skulls of various varanoids
A Bengal monitor eating a bird egg in Kaziranga National Park
Injured Bengal monitor being nursed at the Lok Biradari Prakalp in India
A dead monitor in India, with its hemipenes removed. Monitor hemipenes are often trafficked and illegally sold.
The giant extinct megalania (Varanus priscus)
Bengal monitor (V. bengalensis) with green iguana (Iguana iguana)
Dumeril's monitor (V. dumerilii)
Clouded monitor (V. nebulosus)
Blue-tailed monitor (V. doreanus)
_(Photo_by_Xavier_MALLERET)_(24237560651).jpg)
