~Crocodile Monitors ~
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Scleroglossa
Infraorder: Anguimorpha
Superfamily: Varanoidea
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
PHYSICAL CHARACTERTISTICS:
Crocodile Monitor lizards are one of the rarest of all the different Monitor Lizards. Crocodile Monitors also have the claim to fame of being the “Worlds Largest Lizard”. Now I am sure that 99% of you are thinking, “I always thought that the Komodo Dragon was the worlds largest lizard”. While, there is no doubt that the Komodo Dragon is an extremely big lizard, it is not the largest. In actuality, the Komodo Dragon is the “Heaviest Lizard”. To the best of my knowledge, the largest Komodo Monitor was recorded at 10’2”, and weighed 395 pounds. Definitely a big badass lizard, but still not the biggest.Crocodile Monitor lizards have been documented to reach a length of 15 feet, with stories of 19 footers being told by tribesman deep in the heart of the Papua New Guinea jungles. These incredibly beautiful lizards are also known to have the longest tail, longest claws, and longest teeth of any living Monitor Lizard species. Maybe they should be classified as the “Longest Lizard”, while the Komodo Dragon classified as the “Heaviest Lizard”?
Distribution:
The various species of Varanus cover a vast area, occurring through Africa, the neat subcontinent from India and Sri Lanka to China, down Southeast Asia to Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia and islands of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea.
Intelligence:
Varanid lizards are very intelligent, and some species can even count. Careful studies feeding V. albigularis at the San Diego Zoo varying numbers of snails showed that they can distinguish numbers up to six. V. niloticus have been observed to cooperate when foraging.One varanid lures the female crocodile away from her nest while the other opens the nest to feed on the eggs. The decoy then returns to also feed on the eggs. Komodo dragons, V. komodoensis, at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., recognize their keepers and seem to have distinct personalities.
Protected status:
In Tamil Nadu and all other parts of South India, catching or killing of monitor lizards is banned.
Reproduction:
Females lay 6-12 eggs at a time, and up to 3 clutches per year in captivity (multiple clutches may be a function of food availability), with arboreal nest sites being favored. In common with other tree-dwelling monitors, they likely deposit eggs in tree hollows and similar sites above ground in the wild.
Diet:
Their natural diet has been little studied, but probably includes nearly any animal that can be overpowered. Likely candidates would be cuscus, tree kangaroos, naked-tailed rats, bandicoots, possums, bats, birds, frogs, snakes, lizards, invertebrates and carrion.
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