Short-tailed pygmy monitor

Short-tailed pygmy monitor
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Varanidae
Genus:	Varanus
Subgenus:	Odatria
Species:	V. brevicauda
Binomial name
Varanus brevicauda Boulenger, 1898

The short-tailed pygmy monitor (Varanus brevicauda)^[1] is the second smallest living monitor lizard in the world with a maximum length of 25 cm.^[2]

Distribution

The short-tailed pygmy monitor

The short-tailed monitor is the smallest of the Varanid lizards, attaining a maximum adult length of only 8 inches. Newly hatched short-tailed monitors look just like the adults, but weigh about 1 to 2 grams and are only 1 to 2 inches in total length. Like all monitors the short-tailed monitor has a long neck, well developed limbs with five toes on both fore and hind limbs, strong claws, and a powerful tail that cannot undergo autotomy (Cogger and Zweifel 1998). The body color is usually a drab olive to brown color with lighter ocelli on the trunk. It is nearly impossible to determine the sex of most monitors by their outward appearance and the short-tailed monitor is no exception, as it is monomorphic.

Behavior

Like most monitors, the short-tailed monitor is solitary in nature and avoids contact with other monitors, especially those that are bigger and could be a predator. However, due to the fact that short-tailed monitors are so small and mainly live in burrows it is not uncommon to find a very large population in a very small area. These monitors are very active diurnal foragers. The short-tailed monitor has a very keen sense of sight and hearing but attains the bulk of its sensory information through chemical signals picked up by the Jacobson's organ. These signals include mate recognition and competitor recognition. During the breeding season males will engage in combat for the right to mate with a female. The males will raise up on their hind limbs supported by their tails and wrestle until one is thrown to the ground. ^{[citation needed]}

Diet

The short-tailed monitor is strictly carnivorous. Short-tailed pygmy monitors are highly active foragers in the wild, unlike most lizards.^[5] They eat insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, roaches, caterpillars, as well as reptile eggs, isopods, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, small lizards and occasionally frogs and even small snakes.^[6][3][7] These small monitors are bold and fierce predators, despite their size.^[5]

Reproduction

The short-tailed monitor is

The preferred habitat of the short-tailed monitor is arid regions dominated by spinifex. Spinifex are perennial grasses that form dense clumps, up to several feet in diameter, consisting of a central dense complex lattice-work and numerous outwardly directed needle-like spines. ^{[citation needed]}

Predation and conservation

As the species’ numbers are currently listed as ‘least concern’ by the

References