Nile monitor

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Nile monitor
Botswana
Lake Baringo, Kenya

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
Subgenus: Polydaedalus
Species:
V. niloticus
Binomial name
Varanus niloticus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Nile monitor's native range (including
West Africa Nile monitor
, now often recognized as a separate species)
Synonyms
List
  • Lacerta monitor
    nomen rejectum
  • Lacertus tupinambis Lacépède, 1788
  • Lacerta capensis Sparrman, 1783
  • Lacerta nilotica Linnaeus, 1766
  • Tupinambis elegans Daudin, 1802
  • Tupinambus ornatus Daudin, 1803
  • Monitor niloticus Lichtenstein, 1818
  • Monitor pulcher Leach, 1819
  • Stellio saurus Laurenti, 1768
  • Varanus niloticus Mertens, 1942
  • Varanus (Polydaedalus) niloticus ornatus Mertens, 1942
  • Varanus (Polydaedalus) ornatus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997

The Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the

crocodile monitor, it is still one of the largest lizards in the world, reaching (and even surpassing) Australia’s perentie in size. Other common names include the African small-grain lizard,[3] as well as iguana and various forms derived from it,[4] such as guana, water leguaan[5] or river leguaan (leguan, leguaan, and likkewaan mean monitor lizard in South African English, and can be used interchangeably).[6]

A feral population of Nile monitors (descended from escaped or intentionally-released pets) has become established in several locations in

Madagascar giant day geckos, and panther and veiled chameleons
, among others. Many of these species are thought to be descendants of hurricane escapees.

Taxonomy

Members of the Nile monitor

species group were already well known to Africans in ancient times. For example, they were commonly caught, likely as food, in the Djenné-Djenno culture at least a millennium ago.[8]

The Nile monitor twice was given a

Varanus was coined in 1820 by Blasius Merrem. Six years later Leopold Fitzinger moved the Nile monitor into this genus as Varanus niloticus,[10] the currently accepted scientific name for the species.[5]

Species complex

As traditionally defined, the Nile monitor is a species complex.[2] The

type locality for the ornate monitor is in the Central African country of Cameroon, the scientific name V. ornatus becomes a synonym of V. niloticus. Individuals with the "ornate color pattern" and individuals with the "Nile color pattern" occur in both the West African Nile monitor and the Nile monitor, with the "ornate" appearing to be more frequent in densely forested habitats.[2]

With the West African Nile monitor as a separate species, there are two main clades in the Nile monitor: A widespread clade found throughout much of Southern, Central and East Africa, as well as more locally in coastal West Africa. The other clade includes the monitors of the Sahel (Mali to Ethiopia) and Nile regions.[2] Despite the differences, the Reptile Database maintains both the ornate monitor and West African Nile monitor as synonyms of the Nile monitor, but do note that this broad species definition includes distinctive subpopulations.[5]

Description

Nile monitor eating crocodile egg, Katavi National Park

The Nile monitor is Africa's longest lizard.

olfactory properties. The Nile monitor has quite striking, but variable, skin patterns, as they are greyish-brown above with greenish-yellow barring on the tail and large, greenish-yellow rosette-like spots on their backs with a blackish tiny spot in the middle. Their throats and undersides are an ochre-yellow to a creamy-yellow, often with faint barring.[20]

Their nostrils are placed high on their snouts, indicating these animals are very well adapted for an aquatic lifestyle. They are also excellent climbers and quick runners on land. Nile monitors feed on a wide variety of prey items, including fish, frogs, toads (even poisonous ones of the genera Breviceps and Sclerophrys),[21] small reptiles (such as turtles, snakes, lizards, and young crocodiles),[22] birds, rodents,[23] other small mammals (up to domestic cats and young antelopes [Raphicerus]),[24][25] eggs (including those of crocodiles, agamids, other monitor lizards, and birds),[22] invertebrates (such as beetles, termites, orthopterans, crabs, caterpillars, spiders, millipedes, earthworms, snails, and slugs),[23][22] carrion, human wastes, and feces.[22]

Distribution and habitat

Nile monitors are native to

Kalahari and much of the Horn of Africa), however, they thrive around rivers.[27][28] Nile monitors were reported to live in and around the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and wadis of the Judaean Desert in Israel until the late 19th century, though they are now extinct in the region.[29]

Invasive species

In

Captiva, and North Captiva), Pine Island, Fort Myers, and Punta Rassa. Established populations also exist in adjacent Charlotte County, especially on Gasparilla Island.[28] Other areas in Florida with a sizeable number of Nile monitor sightings include Palm Beach County just southwest of West Palm Beach along State Road 80.[31] In July 2008, a Nile monitor was spotted in Homestead, a small city southwest of Miami.[32] Other sightings have been reported near Hollywood, Naranja, and as far south as Key Largo in the Florida Keys.[31] The potential for the established population of Nile monitors in Lee, Charlotte, and other counties in Florida, to negatively impact indigenous crocodilians, such as American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), and American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus), is enormous, given that they normally raid crocodile nests, eat eggs, and prey
on small crocodiles in Africa. Anecdotal evidence indicates a high rate of disappearance of domestic pets and feral cats in Cape Coral.

In captivity

Nile monitors are often found in the pet trade despite their highly aggressive demeanor and resistance to taming. Juvenile monitors will tail whip as a defensive measure, and as adults, they are capable of inflicting moderate to serious wounds from biting and scratching. Nile monitors require a large cage as juveniles quickly grow when fed a varied diet, and large adults often require custom-built quarters.

"There are few lizards less suited to life in captivity than the Nile monitor. Buffrenil (1992) considered that, when fighting for its life, a Nile monitor was a more dangerous adversary than a crocodile of a similar size. Their care presents particular problems on account of the lizards' enormous size and lively dispositions. Very few of the people who buy brightly-coloured baby Nile monitors can be aware that, within a couple of years, their purchase will have turned into an enormous, ferocious carnivore, quite capable of breaking the family cat's neck with a single snap and swallowing it whole."[33]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Varanus niloticus.
Wikispecies has information related to Varanus niloticus.
  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T198539A2531945.en
    . Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  2. ^
    doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.004
  3. ^ "Synonyms of Nile Monitor (Veranus niloticus)". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  4. ^ "iguana". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  5. ^ a b c d Varanus niloticus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 15 September 2019.
  6. ^ "leguan - definition". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Nile Monitor". Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Yong, Ed (20 April 2016). Florida’s Dragon Problem. The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  9. ^ ICZN (1959). Opinion 540. Protection under the plenary power of the specific names bengalensis Daudin, 1802, as published in the combination Tupinambis bengalensis, and salvator Laurenti 1768, as published in the combination Stellio salvator. Opin. Declar. intern. Com. zool. Nom. 20: 77-85.
  10. ^ Fitzinger, L. (1826). Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften nebst einer Verwandschafts-Tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. Zoologischen Museums zu Wien. Wien.
  11. ^ Mertens, R. (1942). Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae), 1. Teil: Allgemeines. Abh. Senckenb. naturf. Ges. 462: 1-116.
  12. ^ Böhme, W., and T. Ziegler (1997). A taxonomic review of the Varanus (Polydaedalus) niloticus (Linnaeus, 1766) species complex. The Herpetological Journal 7: 155-162.
  13. ^ "5 Fascinating Facts About the Nile Monitor – SafariBookings".
  14. ^ Nile Monitor Care Sheet
  15. ^ Enge, K. M., Krysko, K. L., Hankins, K. R., Campbell, T. S., & King, F. W. (2004). Status of the Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) in southwestern Florida. Southeastern Naturalist, 3(4), 571-582.
  16. ^ "Varanus niloticus". Monitor Lizards – Captive Husbandry. Monitor-Lizards.net. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  17. ^ Condon, K. (1987). A kinematic analysis of mesokinesis in the Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus). Experimental biology, 47(2), 73.
  18. ^ Hirth & Latif 1979
  19. ^ "ANIMALS - Varanus niloticus". Dr. Giuseppe Mazza's Photomazza. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  20. ^ a b "Nile Monitors". L. Campbell's Herp Page. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  21. ^ Dalhuijsen,Kim et al:"A comparative analysis of the diets of Varanus albigularis and Varanus niloticus in South Africa. African Zoology 49(1): 83–93 (April 2014)
  22. ^ a b c d "Varanus Nilotlcus".
  23. ^ a b "Varanus niloticus (Nile Monitor, Water Leguaan)". Animal Diversity Web.
  24. ISBN 9780952663232
    .
  25. ISBN 9781770073418
    .
  26. ^ (Schleich et al., 1996; Spawls et al., 2002).
  27. ^ Reptile Specialists (Nile monitor)
  28. ^ a b "NAS - Invasive Species FactSheet: Varanus niloticus (Nile monitor)". Nonindenous Aquatic Species. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database. Gainesville, FL: United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 2009-05-09.
  29. OCLC 889948524.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  30. ^ (Campbell, 2003; Enge et al. 2004).
  31. ^ a b "Everglades CISMA". Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  32. ^ Hofmeyer, Erik (10 June 2008). "Homestead ARB home to diverse array of wildlife". Homestead Air Reserve Base News. Homestead Air Reserve Base. Archived from the original on 17 May 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  33. ISBN 3-930612-10-0
    .
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