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Spotted Tree Monitor
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- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Lacertilia (=Sauria) (lizards)
- Family: Varanidae (monitor lizards)
- Genus: Varanus (monitor lizards)
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| Also known as: spotted
tree goanna |
Scientific Name: Varanus scalaris
Mertens, 1941 |
| Habitat: Woodlands;
arboreal, but will descend from the trees to find food. |
scalaris="of a ladder/stairs,"
perhaps a reference to the dorsal pattern
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| Length: About 2 feet total. |
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| Food: Insects and
lizards. |
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I saw this monitor lizard on the nature trail near
the Bowali Visitor Centre, Kakadu National Park. At first,
it was resting at the bottom of a tree trunk (first picture), but
when it saw me it quickly climbed to the upper reaches of the
tree. |
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| I had difficulty pinning down
this monitor's exact identity, because several monitors inhabit
Kakadu. I enlisted the help of Mr. John Fowler, who
maintains the Reptiles
of Australia web site with John Hollister. He quickly
identified the two monitors with which I was having trouble, so
many thanks to him! |
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