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Nile monitor

Nile monitor
Nile monitor lizard (Varanus niloticus).jpg
Nile monitor lizard (Varanus niloticus) head.jpg
Lake Baringo, Kenya
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Lacertilia
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
Subgenus: Polydaedalus
Species: V. niloticus
Binomial name
Varanus niloticus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Nile monitor (varanus niloticus) distribution map.png
Nile monitor's native range
Synonyms
  • Lacerta monitor Linnaeus, 1758
  • Lacertus tupinambis Lacépède 1788
  • Lacerta capensis Sparrman 1783
  • Lacerta nilotica Linnaeus, 1766
  • Tupinambis elegans Daudin 1802
  • Tupinambus ornatus Daudin 1803
  • Monitor niloticus Lichtenstein 1818
  • Monitor pulcher Leach 1819
  • Stellio saurus Laurenti 1768
  • Varanus niloticus Mertens 1942
  • Varanus (Polydaedalus) niloticus ornatus Mertens 1942
  • Varanus (Polydaedalus) ornatus BÖHME & ZIEGLER, 1997

The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae) found throughout much of Africa but absent from the west where it is replaced by Varanus stellatus. Other common names include the African small-grain lizard,water leguaan or river leguaan (leguan, leguaan, and likkewaan mean monitor lizard in South African English, and can be used interchangeably).

Nile monitors can grow to about 120 to 220 cm (3 ft 11 in to 7 ft 3 in) in length, with the largest specimens attaining 244 cm (8 ft). In an average-sized specimen, the snout-to-vent length will be around 50 cm (1 ft 8 in). In body mass, adults have been reported to vary widely, one study claiming only 0.8 to 1.7 kg (1.8 to 3.7 lb), others state weights ranging from 5.9 to 15 kg (13 to 33 lb) in big monitors. Variations may be due to age or environmental conditions. Exceptionally large specimens may scale as much as 20 kg (44 lb), but this species weighs somewhat less on average than the bulkier rock monitor. They have muscular bodies, strong legs, and powerful jaws. Their teeth are sharp and pointed in juvenile animals and become blunt and peg-like in adults. They also possess sharp claws used for climbing, digging, defense, or tearing at their prey. Like all monitors, they have forked tongues, with highly developed olfactory properties. The Nile monitor has quite striking, but variable, skin patterns, as they are greyish-brown above with greenish-yellow barring on the tail and large, greenish-yellow rosette-like spots on their backs with a blackish tiny spot in the middle. Their throats and undersides are an ochre-yellow to a creamy-yellow, often with faint barring.

Their nostrils are placed high on their snouts, indicating these animals are highly aquatic. They are also excellent climbers and quick runners on land. Nile monitors feed on fish, snails, frogs, crocodile eggs and young, snakes, birds, small mammals, insects, and carrion.They are also the second largest reptile in the Nile river.


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