Spencer's goanna

Spencer's goanna
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Family:Varanidae
Genus:Varanus
Subgenus:Varanus
Species: V. spenceri
Binomial name
Varanus spenceri
Lucas & C. Frost, 1903

Spencer's goanna or Spencer's monitor (Varanus spenceri ) is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

Etymology

The specific name, spenceri, is in honor of English-Australian biologist Walter Baldwin Spencer.[1]

Geographic range

V. spenceri is native to the Barkly region in central Queensland/Northern Territory, Australia.

Description

V. spenceri can grow to a total length (including tail) of up to 120 cm (47 in). Spencer's monitor is generally heavier than a similarly sized monitor of another species due to its "stockier" build. It has sharp claws which it uses for digging burrows.

Diet

Varanus spenceri eats anything it can find, including highly venomous snakes, small mammals, small lizards, eggs, and carrion (dead animals), and is able to digest anything it eats.

Defensive behavior

When threatened, V. spenceri hisses loudly, distends its throat and whips its aggressor with its muscular tail.

Habitat

Varanus spenceri lives in black soil plains with no trees; so Spencer's goanna is the only Australian monitor that does not readily climb although juvenile animals will climb given the opportunity.

Reproduction

Clutch size of Spencer's monitor generally ranges between 11 and 30 eggs.[2]

Taxonomy

Varanus ingrami Boulenger, 1906, is an invalid name (a junior synonym) for this species.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 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 spenceri, p. 250).
  2. ↑ Varanus spenceri
  3. ↑ "Varanus spenceri ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

  • Lucas AHS, Frost C (1903). "Descriptions of two new Australian Lizards, Varanus spencer and Diplodactylus bilineatus ". Proc. Royal Soc. Victoria 15: 145-147. (Varanus spenceri, new species, pp. 145–146).
  • Mertens R (1958). "Bemerkungen über die Warane Australiens ". Senckenbergiana biologica 39: 229-264. (in German).

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