Varanus salvadorii

Common card · No. 202987

The crocodile monitor (Varanus salvadorii), also known as the Papuan monitor or Salvadori's monitor, is a species of monitor lizard endemic to New Guinea. It is the largest monitor lizard in New Guinea and is one of the longest lizards, verified at up to 255 cm (100 in). Its tail is exceptionally long, with some specimens having been claimed to exceed the length of the Komodo dragon, however less massive. The crocodile monitor is an arboreal lizard with a dark green body marked with bands of yellowish spots. It has a characteristic blunt snout and a very long prehensile tail. It lives among the mangrove swamps and coastal rainforests of the southeastern part of New Guinea, feeding opportunistically on everything from birds and small mammals to eggs, other reptiles, amphibians and carrion. Its large, backwards-curving teeth are better adapted than those of most monitors for seizing fast-moving prey. Like all monitors, it has anatomical features that enable it to breathe more easily when...

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