The Monitor Lizard, Varanus bengalensis

Abstract

The monitor lizards (family Varanidae, genus Varanus) are relatively large animals, ranging in length up to more than 2 m. They occur in the warmer areas of the African, Asian and Australian continents. They have long necks and long, forked tongues. Being large, their prey tends not to consist of insect-sized animals, but rather other lizards, snakes, fish, frogs, birds and their eggs, and mammals. The Komodo dragon of the Sundra islands of Indonesia, Varanus komodoensis, grows to 3 m in length and kills and eats young deer and pigs. The long tail of all monitors can be used as an effective weapon and is flattened in the species which spend a lot of time in water.