Dampier Peninsula monitor

Dampier Peninsula monitor
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Lacertilia
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
Species: V. sparnus
Binomial name
Varanus sparnus
Doughty, Kealley, Fitch & Donnellan, 2014

The Dampier Peninsula monitor or Dampier Peninsula goanna (Varanus sparnus), described in 2014, is the smallest known species of monitor lizard, growing up to 16.3 grams with a length of almost 23 cm and a SVL (snout to vent length) of 116 mm. It is believed to live only on the Dampier Peninsula of the Kimberley region north of Broome and Derby in Western Australia. It is highly active, making it difficult to photograph in the wild. It has short legs, an elongate body, a reddish-brown back with widely scattered black spots and "a ridged, circular and short prehensile tail."[1][2]

"sparnos is Greek for 'rare' or 'scarce' in reference to this species' isolation and small range on the Dampier Peninsula. Latinised to sparnus, and used as an adjective."[3]

Footnotes

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.