Pygmy mulga monitor

Pygmy mulga monitor
Alice Springs Desert Park
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Family:Varanidae
Genus:Varanus
Subgenus:Odatria
Species: V. gilleni
Binomial name
Varanus gilleni
Lucas & C. Frost, 1895[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Varanus gilleni
    Lucas & C. Frost, 1895
  • Worrellisaurus gilleni
    — Wells & Wellington, 1985
  • Varanus (Odatria) gilleni
    — Hörenberg & Koch, 2013

The pygmy mulga monitor or stripe-tailed goanna (Varanus gilleni ) is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is native to northwestern and central Australia.[3]

Etymology

The specific name, gilleni, is in honor of Australian anthropologist Francis James Gillen.[4]

Description

In a vivarium

The pygmy mulga monitor is arboreal, with a prehensile tail. It grows to a total length of around 35 cm (14 in), of which 20 cm (7.9 in) is tail. The upper surface is brown, grading to grey at the sides. The nostrils are positioned on the sides of the muzzle, about halfway between the tip of the snout and the eye.[3] V. gilleni weighs, on average, 60–80 grams (2.1–2.8 oz).[5]

Diet

Varanus gilleni eats insects, lizards, small mammals, and eggs.

References

  1. ↑ Zipcodezoo.com Archived August 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Varanus gilleni ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. 1 2 "Varanus gilleni ". www.monitor-lizards.net. Archived 2009-10-30 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Varanus gilleni, p. 101).
  5. ↑ Pygmy Mulga monitor - Perth Zoo - Western Australia Archived January 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.

Further reading

  • Lucas AHS, Frost C (1895). "Preliminary Notice of certain New Species of Lizards from Central Australia". Proc. Royal Soc. Victoria 7: 264-269. (Varanus gilleni, new species, pp. 266–267).


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