Blue-tailed monitor

The blue-tailed monitor, blue-tailed tree monitor or Kalabeck's monitor^[1] (Varanus doreanus),^[2][3] is a monitor lizard of the Varanidae family found throughout the Island of New Guinea, on the island of New Britain, and in the Bismarck Archipelago.^[4] The blue-tailed monitor is also found in Australia on the tip of the Cape York Peninsula. It belongs to the indicus group of the subgenus Euprepiosaurus. Varanus doreanus has not yet been evaluated by the IUCN.^[2]

Description

The blue-tailed monitor is basically greyish-blue in colour. Scales on its neck are smooth and oval. This lizard can reach a total length up to 135 cm.^[1]

Subspecies

Two subspecies have been described:

• V. d. doreanus (Meyer, 1874)
• V. d. finschi (Bohme, Horn & Zeigler, 1994)

The latter has since been elevated to full-species status as Varanus finschi.

References

1. 1 2 3 "Monitor-lizards.net". Archived from the original on 2010-02-02. 
2. 1 2 "EOL.org". 
3. ↑ Reptile-database.reptarium.cz
4. ↑ JCVI.org

Further reading

• Photo of Varanus doreanus
• Photos of Varanus doreanus
• Mampam.com
• Monitor-lizards.net
• Harvey, Michael B. and David G. Barker A New Species of Blue-Tailed Monitor Lizard (Genus Varanus) from Halmahera Island, Indonesia Herpetologica, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Mar., 1998), pp. 34–44.
• Bennett, D. (1995). A Little Book of Monitor Lizards. Viper Press, UK.
• Böhme,W., H. G. Horn & T. Ziegler (1994). Zur Taxonomie der Pazifikwarane (Varanus-indicus-Komplex): Revalidierung von Varanus doreanus (A. B. MEYER, 1874) mit Beschreibung einer neuen Unterart. Salamandra 30 (2): 119-142.
• Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp.
• De Lisle, H.F. (1996). Natural History of Monitor Lizards. Krieger, Malabar (Florida)
• De Rooij, N. de (1915). The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. I. Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. Leiden (E. J. Brill), xiv + 384 pp.
• Good, David A.;Bauer, Aaron M.;G_nther, Rainer (1993). An Annotated Type Catalogue of the Anguimorph Lizards (Squamata: Anguidae, Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Xenosauridae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 69 (1): 45-56
• Koch A, Arida E, Schmitz A, Böhme W, Ziegler T. (2009). Refining the polytypic species concept of mangrove monitors (Squamata: Varanus indicus group): a new cryptic species from the Talaud Islands, Indonesia, reveals the underestimated diversity of Indo-Australian monitor lizards. Australian Journal of Zoology 57(1): 29-40
• Lesson, R.P. (1830). Description de quelques reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus. In: M.L.I. Duperrey, Voyage Autour du Monde Execute par Ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de La Majeste, La Coquille, exécuté Pendant les Annees 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825. 2. Zoologie 2 (1). Arthur Bertrand, Paris: 1-65
• Mertens, R. (1942). Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae), 3. Teil: Taxonomie. Abh. Senckenb. naturf. Ges., 466: 235-391
• Meyer, A.B. (1874). [Eine Mittheilung von Hrn. Dr. Adolf Meyer] über die von ihm auf Neu-Guinea und den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahre 1873 gesammelten Amphibien. Monatsber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1874: 128-140
• Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig and G. Doria. (1878). Catalogo dei retilli e dei batraci raccolti da O. Beccari, L. M. D'Alberts e A. A. Bruijn. nella sotto-regione Austro-Malese. Annali del Museo Civico de Storia Naturale di Genova. ser. 1, 13: 323-450
• Philipp,K.M.; Ziegler, T. & Böhme, W. (2007). Preliminary Investigations of the Natural Diet of Six Monitor Lizard Species of the Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) indicus Group. Mertensiella 16: 336-345

1874