The Rennell Island monitor (''Varanus juxtindicus'') is a species of

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 one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...

s found in the Solomon Islands archipelago. It is also known as the Hakoi Monitor.Zipcodezoo.com
It belongs to the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: 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 t ...

''Euprepiosaurus'' along with the canopy goanna, the peach-throated monitor,

Kalabeck's monitor The blue-tailed monitor, blue-tailed tree monitor or Kalabeck's monitor (''Varanus doreanus''), is a monitor lizard of the Varanidae family. It belongs to the ''V. doreanus'' group of the subgenus ''Euprepiosaurus''. Taxonomy Two subspecies ...

, and others.

Distribution

This species is endemic to Rennell Island, one of the smaller of the Solomon Islands. It is especially found near

Niupani Niupani is a village in the Solomon Islands, on Rennell Island in the Rennell and Bellona province. {{coord, 11, 43, 47.16, S, 160, 26, 3.75, E, region:SB_type:city, display=title Location This village is on the Eastern side of Lake Tegano a ...

Description

The Rennell Island monitor can reach a length of up to 150 cm from snout to tail. The pattern and coloration on its back are very similar to ''V. indicus'', but this species is distinguished from the other members of the subgenus ''Euprepiosaurus'' by the lack of blue coloration (see ''

Varanus yuwonoi The Yuwono monitor or tricolor monitor (''Varanus yuwonoi''), also commonly known as the black-backed mangrove monitor or the black-backed monitor, is a species of monitor lizard in the blue-tailed monitor species complex. (''Varanus yuwonoi'' ...

'' and '' Varanus doreanus''). Its tail shows no bands, nor is there a visible band on the side of the head. The throat of ''V. juxtindicus'' lacks a noticeable pattern. Its tongue only has pigment at the tip. The first third of its tail is round in diameter, without any keel. "

References

* Böhme W.; Philipp, K. & Ziegler T. (2002). Another new member of the Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) indicus group (Sauria: Varanidae): an undescribed species from Rennell Island, Solomon Islands. Salamandra 38 (1): 15-26. * Böhme,W. 2003. Checklist of the living monitor lizards of the world (family Varanidae). Zool. Verhand., Leiden 341: 6-43. * 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 * McCoy, M. (1980). Reptiles of the Solomon Islands. Wau Ecology Institute Handbook 7. Wau Ecology Institute, Wau, Papua New Guinea. * Ziegler, T., Schmitz, A., Koch, A. & W. Böhme (2007). A review of the subgenus Euprepiosaurus of Varanus (Squamata: Varanidae): morphological and molecular phylogeny, distribution and zoogeography, with an identification key for the members of the V. indicus and the V. prasinus species groups. Zootaxa 1472: 1-28 * Ziegler, Thomas; Wolfgang Böhme, Andreas Schmitz 2007. A new species of the Varanus indicus group (Squamata, Varanidae) from Halmahera Island, Moluccas: morphological and molecular evidence. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin 83 (S1): 109-119 {{Taxonbar, from=Q3008781 Varanus Reptiles described in 2002 Reptiles of the Solomon Islands Rennell and Bellona Islands

Distribution

Description

References

Further reading