The blue-tailed monitor, blue-tailed tree monitor or Kalabeck's monitor (''Varanus doreanus''),Reptile-database.reptarium.cz
/ref> is a

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and West African Nile monitor, one species is also found in south America as an invasive species. A ...

of the family

Varanidae The Varanidae are a family of lizards in the superfamily Varanoidea and order Anguimorpha. The family, a group of carnivorous and frugivorous lizards, includes the living genus '' Varanus'' and a number of extinct genera more closely related ...

. It belongs to the ''V. doreanus'' group of the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Euprepiosaurus''.

Taxonomy

Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

have been described: *''V. d. doreanus'' (Meyer, 1874) *''V. d. finschi'' (Bohme, Horn & Zeigler, 1994) The latter has since been elevated to full-species status as '' Varanus finschi''. Once considered a member of the '' V. indicus'' species complex, it now forms its own species complex with '' V. finschi, V. semotus,'' and '' V. yuwonoi'', having diverged from the ''V. indicus'' species complex 5.8 million years ago. The ''V. doreanus'' species complex formed at most 4.1 million years ago. ''V. doreanus'' is the most basal and widespread member of this species complex.

Distribution

This species can be found throughout

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

Biak Biak is the main island of Biak Archipelago located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The largest popula ...

Salawati Salawati () is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua (formerly West Papua), Indonesia. Its area is 1,902.1 km2 (including smaller offshore islands). Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southea ...

, and

Waigeo Waigeo is an island in the Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about to the nort ...

. The blue-tailed monitor is also found on mainland

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on the tip of the

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

. It inhabits rainforest areas, dry streambeds, and

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...

Description

The blue-tailed monitor can reach a total length (including the tail) up to 135 cm (53.15 in). The maximum size record of this species belongs to a male specimen collected from Cape York in 1948, with a total length of 173.5 cm despite missing its tail tip. The body is greyish-blue in colour and covered with round ocelli. The throat is whitish and strongly marbled. The tail shows clearly a double keel. The tail is light blue (hence the common name of this species), which is interrupted by black cross bands. In adults this color partially fades away. Scales on its neck are smooth and oval. It has a yellow tongue, which is a shared characteristic of the ''V. doreanus'' species complex.

Ecology

Like other monitors of the ''V. doreanus'' species complex, the blue-tailed monitor feeds on a relatively high amount of vertebrate prey such as birds, especially when compared to other monitors of the subgenus ''Euprepriosaurus''. It will also feed on invertebrates such as beetles. Like many monitor lizards, males fight over females and territory by standing on their hindlegs and grappling with each other. In Australia, they are predated on by

black-headed python The black-headed python (''Aspidites melanocephalus'') Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . is a species of snake in the family Pythonidae (the python family). The species is endemi ...

s. It is sympatric with the

mangrove monitor The mangrove monitor, mangrove goanna, or Western Pacific monitor lizard (''Varanus indicus'') is a member of the monitor lizard family with a large distribution from northern Australia and New Guinea to the Moluccas and Solomon Islands. It grows ...

and the peach-throated monitor in many parts of its range.

Bibliography

* Harvey, Michael B. and David G. Barker A New Species of Blue-Tailed Monitor Lizard (Genus Varanus) from Halmahera Island, Indonesia Herpetologica, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Mar., 1998), pp. 34–44. * Bennett, D. (1995). A Little Book of Monitor Lizards. Viper Press, UK. * Böhme,W., H. G. Horn & T. Ziegler (1994). Zur Taxonomie der Pazifikwarane (Varanus-indicus-Komplex): Revalidierung von Varanus doreanus (A. B. MEYER, 1874) mit Beschreibung einer neuen Unterart. Salamandra 30 (2): 119-142. * Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. * De Lisle, H.F. (1996). Natural History of Monitor Lizards. Krieger, Malabar (Florida) * De Rooij, N. de (1915). The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. I. Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. Leiden (E. J. Brill), xiv + 384 pp. *Good, David A.;Bauer, Aaron M.;G_nther, Rainer (1993). An Annotated Type Catalogue of the Anguimorph Lizards (Squamata: Anguidae, Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Xenosauridae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 69 (1): 45-56 * Koch A, Arida E, Schmitz A, Böhme W, Ziegler T. (2009). Refining the polytypic species concept of mangrove monitors (Squamata: Varanus indicus group): a new cryptic species from the Talaud Islands, Indonesia, reveals the underestimated diversity of Indo-Australian monitor lizards. Australian Journal of Zoology 57(1): 29-40 * Lesson, R.P. (1830). Description de quelques reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus. In: M.L.I. Duperrey, Voyage Autour du Monde Execute par Ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de La Majeste, La Coquille, exécuté Pendant les Annees 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825. 2. Zoologie 2 (1). Arthur Bertrand, Paris: 1-65 * Mertens, R. (1942). Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae), 3. Teil: Taxonomie. Abh. Senckenb. naturf. Ges., 466: 235-391 * Meyer, A.B. (1874). ine Mittheilung von Hrn. Dr. Adolf Meyerüber die von ihm auf Neu-Guinea und den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahre 1873 gesammelten Amphibien. Monatsber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1874: 128-140 * Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig and G. Doria. (1878). Catalogo dei retilli e dei batraci raccolti da O. Beccari, L. M. D'Alberts e A. A. Bruijn. nella sotto-regione Austro-Malese. Annali del Museo Civico de Storia Naturale di Genova. ser. 1, 13: 323-450 * Philipp,K.M.; Ziegler, T. & Böhme, W. (2007). Preliminary Investigations of the Natural Diet of Six Monitor Lizard Species of the Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) indicus Group. Mertensiella 16: 336-345

References

External links

Photos of ''Varanus doreanus''

Mampam.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2017245 Varanus Monitor lizards of Australia Monitor lizards of New Guinea Reptiles described in 1874 Taxa named by Adolf Bernhard Meyer