Canopy goanna

The canopy goanna, Keith Horne's monitor, blue-nosed tree monitor,[3] or Nesbit River monitor[4] (Varanus keithhornei) is a species of monitor lizards native to northeast Australia. It is a member of the Varanus prasinus species group.[5]

Canopy goanna
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
Subgenus:
Hapturosaurus
Species:
V. keithhornei
Binomial name
Varanus keithhornei
Wells & Wellington, 1985[1][2]
Synonyms
  • Varanus teriae Sprackland, 1991

This monitor lizard is found in a restricted area of less than 100 km2 near the Claudie and Nesbit rivers, in the McIlwraith and Iron Ranges of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland.[1][6][7]

Description

The colouration of V. keithhornei is dark black on the upper side. It has moderately big and smooth head scales. Its tail has no visible keel.[5] The canopy goanna is small for a monitor lizard, reaching a total length up to 77 cm,[8] but more robust than other species of the V. prasinus species complex, and can be further distinguished from them by its colour and the conical throat scales.[7]

Specimens were originally assigned to the species Varanus prasinus by Czechura in 1980,[7] but Wells and Wellington declared it a new species 5 years later.

Diet

They forage in the trees and the leaf litter for insects such as orthopterans, roaches, and beetles.[7]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ITIS.gov
  3. "Mampam Conservation – Varanus keithhorni". mampam.com.
  4. "Varanus keithhornei". The Reptile Database.
  5. Monitor-lizards.net Archived 19 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Support Wildlife – Australia Zoo – Help Us Help Wildlife".
  7. Bennett, Daniel (1 January 1995). A little book of monitor lizards. Viper Press. pp. 128.
  8. "Canopy goanna (Varanus keithhornei) at the Australian Reptile Online Database | AROD.com.au". arod.com.au.

Further reading
  • Photos of Varanus keithhornei at Pbase.com
  • Anonymous 2001. Opinion 1970 – Odatria keithhornei WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985 (Reptilia, Sauria): specific name placed on Official List. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 58 (1): 74
  • Bleeker, P. 1856. Reis Minahassa 1: 278
  • Cogger,H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Czechura, G. V. 1980. The emerald monitor Varanus prasinus (Schlegel): an addition to the Australian mainland herpetofauna. Mem. Qd Mus. 20: 103–109
  • De Lisle, H.F. 1996. Natural History of Monitor Lizards. Krieger, Malabar (Florida)
  • Eidenmüller, B. 2007. Small monitors in the terrarium. Reptilia (GB) (50): 12–19
  • Sprackland, R. G. 1991. Taxonomic review of the Varanus prasinus group with descriptions of two new species. Mem. Queensl. Museum, 3 (3): 561–576.
  • Wells, R. W. and Wellington, C. R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology, Supplementary Series, (1):1–61.
  • Ziegler, T. & W. BÖHME 1998. Comments on the proposed conservation of the specific name Varanus teriae SPRACKLAND, 1991 (Reptilia, Squamata) (Case 3043; see BZN 54: 100–103, 250–251; 55: 37–39). Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 55 (2): 111–113.
  • Ziegler, T., Schmitz, A., Koch, A. & W. Böhme 2007. A review of the subgenus Euprepiosaurus of Varanus (Squamata: Varanidae): morphological and molecular phylogeny, distribution and zoogeography, with an identification key for the members of the V. indicus and the V. prasinus species groups. Zootaxa 1472: 1–28


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