OzAnimals.com
Australian Wildlife

  Perentie (Varanus giganteus)





Perentie | Varanus giganteus photo
Perentie photographed at Uluru, Northern Territory

Image by F Delventhal - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Perentie | Varanus giganteus photo
Perentie photographed at Sydney Wildlife World.

Image by Denise Chan - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







PERENTIE FACTS

Description
The Perentie is the largest lizard in Australia. It has a long neck and a stout, robust body with long, tapering tail. It is yellow or cream with brown rosettes edged in dark brown on the back. The legs are dark with white spots. The head and neck are pale creamy-white with pattern of black lines and flecks.

Size
The Perentie can grow to over 2.5m

Habitat
around rocky hills and outcrops in arid areas. It shelters in burrows, which it digs with its powerful front legs and claws.

Food
snakes, rabbits, birds, eggs and small marsupials such as wallabies. Young ones eat lizards, insects and small mammals

Breeding
lays around 6-10 eggs in a burrow. The young hatch after 2-3 months

Range
arid parts of South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory

distribution map showing range of Varanus giganteus in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata (Sauria)
Family:Varanidae
Genus:Varanus
Species:giganteus
Common Name:Perentie

Relatives in same Genus
  Ridge-tailed Monitor (V. acanthurus)
  Stripe-tailed Monitor (V. caudolineatus)
  Pygmy Mulga Monitor (V. gilleni)
  Kimberley Rock Monitor (V. glauerti)
  Gould's Monitor (V. gouldii)
  Mangrove Monitor (V. indicus)
  Pygmy Rock Monitor (V. kingorum)
  Mertens' Water Monitor (V. mertensi)
  Yellow Spotted Monitor (V. panoptes)
  Emerald Tree Monitor (V. prasinus)
  Heath Monitor (V. rosenbergii)
  Spencer's Monitor (V. spenceri)
  Storr's Monitor (V. storri)
  Spotted Tree Monitor (V. timorensis)
  Black-headed Monitor (V. tristis)
  Lace Monitor / Goanna (V. varius)