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REPTILE FACTS |
Description
A large goanna. Mottled greyish or brown, with rows of yellow or greenish spots. Tip of tail yellow, banded with brown.
One of northern Australia’s largest predators, this species was formerly common, but has been decimated by Cane Toads. Biting a toad is sufficient to kill an adult. It forages actively, consuming smaller animals and carrion, and digging up the eggs of turtles and crocodiles. It often raises itself onto its hind legs to attain a better view of its surroundings or to deter a predator. It resides in a burrow, where it will retreat to inactivity through the low food availability of the late dry season. It lays up to 13 eggs in the wet season, which take a minimum of 7 months to hatch. In the past, this species was one of the favourite foods of northern Australian Aboriginal peoples.
Author credit: Lindley McKay
Other Names
Argus monitor
Habitat
Tropical to semi-arid woodlands, particularly around floodplains and waterways.
Food
Carnivore
Range
Northern Australia.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Reptilia | | Order: | Squamata (Sauria) | | Family: | Varanidae | | Genus: | Varanus | | Species: | panoptes | | Common Name: | Yellow Spotted Monitor |
Relatives in same Genus
Ridge-tailed Monitor (V. acanthurus)
Stripe-tailed Monitor (V. caudolineatus)
Perentie (V. giganteus)
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)
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)
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