Black-palmed rock monitor

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Black-palmed rock monitor
Black-palmed Rock Monitor (Varanus glebopalma). Katherine, NT 2.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
Subgenus: Odatria
Species:
V. glebopalma
Binomial name
Varanus glebopalma
Mitchell, 1955 [2] [3]

The black-palmed rock monitor (Varanus glebopalma) [3] [4] is a member of the Varanidae family found in Australia. [3] Also known as the twilight monitor or the long-tailed rock monitor, [5] it is a member of the subgenus Odatria, [3] [6] and is found in the northern part of Australia in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, as well as Queensland. Specifically, its distribution extends from Mount Isa in the east to the Kimberleys in the west. [6] Its habitat is areas of rock escarpment, and large populations may be found in small areas. [7]

Contents

Taxonomy

A species first described in 1955 by South Australian curator Francis John Mitchell, nominating the holotype as a specimen obtained at Lake Hubert in the Northern Territory. Mitchell's specimen was the only example available, and was shot by R. R. Miller near a sandstone outcrop during the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. The new species was allied to the infrageneric classification Varanus (Odatria). [2]

Common names for the species include black-palmed and long-tailed rock monitor. [1] The specific epithet glebopalma refers to the shiny black pads found on the undersides of their feet. [7]

Description

The black-palmed rock monitor reaches a total length of just over 100 cm. [8] The coloration of V. glebopalma on the back shows a black ground color with some light brown scales, overall the skin is reddish or gray brown. The scales form a "reticulated pattern at the sides or small ocelli with a black central spot on top." [7] Their tail is blackish for the first half of its length, becoming a creamy-yellow color. [1] The top sides of the head and the limbs are black with small, light brown or cream-colored spots which "flow together". [6] Their limbs have larger spots. [7]

Behaviour

This varanid is secretive, eluding casual observers and poorly recorded in surveys. Varanus glebopalma is extremely timid and able to move quickly, usually hunting in daylight hours; although activity at dusk or night is noted in descriptions this is likely to be a response to disturbance by the observers. Their hunting mode is as an ambush predator. [1] In the wild, black-palmed rock monitors prefer to eat insects, lizards, and other small vertebrates. [9] Orthopterans, species of grasshoppers, are sought in the dry season of Australia's north and skinks make up the majority of the diet during the wet, other prey captured and consumed includes frogs. [10] [1]

Individual range may be from 1.25 to over 7 hectares, ambushing prey on the move or foraging at narrow hiding places. [10] A report of males avoiding another male presence is assumed to be a demonstration of territoriality, a behaviour unknown in any other varanid species. [1]

Distribution and habitat

The distribution range of the species extends from the Kimberley, across the Top End and to the west of Queensland in the Mount Isa districts. They occur from the coast to inland regions, with an offshore population recorded at Adolphus Island. The habitat is complex rocky outcrops that provide crevices and boulders and only in association with open woodlands; despite the presence of trees in the local environment the species is not known to be arboreal. In the Yarrangguljna region of the Northern Territory the population's strongly preferred vegetation type is woodland dominated by Allosyncarpia ternata . This same habitat is occupied by another long-tailed monitor Varanus glauerti , and while the two species are closely sympatric they occupy distinct niches within this ecology. [10] [1] The range of habitat includes arid woodland and monsoonal forest near their strongly preferred refuge within crevices and boulders at the outskirts of sandstone escarpments and outcrops. [10]

The assessment of the IUCN work group, published in 2017, listed this species as least concern, with a population that is assumed to be stable. As a consumer of amphibians, the species is assumed to be susceptible to the advance of Rhinella marina , a poisonous introduced species known in Australia as the cane toad. [1]

Related Research Articles

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Sand goanna Species of lizard

The sand goanna is a species of large Australian monitor lizard, also known as Gould's monitor, sand monitor, or racehorse goanna.

The short-tailed pygmy monitor is the second smallest living monitor lizard in the world with a maximum length of 25 cm.

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Yellow-spotted monitor Species of reptile

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Spiny-tailed monitor Species of lizard

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Peacock monitor Species of lizard

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Stripe-tailed goanna Species of lizard

The stripe-tailed goanna, also known as the line-tailed pygmy monitor is a semi-arboreal species of monitor lizard native to Western Australia.

Kimberley rock monitor Species of lizard

The Kimberley rock monitor is a medium-sized species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is native to Northern Australia. Also known as Glauert's monitor or the Kakadu sand goanna, it belongs to the subgenus Odatria.

The Pilbara monitor, also known commonly as Bush's monitor, Bush's pygmy monitor, and the Pilbara mulga goanna, is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

Rosenbergs monitor Species of lizard

The Rosenberg's monitor is an Australian species of varanid reptile found in southern regions of the continent. They are large and fast predators with rugged bodies and long tails, having a combined length up to 1.5 metres, that will consume any smaller animal that is pursued and captured or found while foraging. They occur in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, where it may be rare or locally common, and more frequently observed in Western Australia, where it is sometimes abundant.

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Kings monitor Species of lizard

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<i>Varanus <span style="font-style:normal;">(</span>Odatria<span style="font-style:normal;">)</span></i> Subgenus of reptiles

The subgenus Odatria, sometimes known as the dwarf monitor lizards, consists of small monitor lizards found in Australia and Indonesia. Species in this subgenus include the smallest monitor species in the world, the tiny 16 gram Dampier Peninsula monitor, but also includes some more medium sized species such as the 240 gram black-palmed rock monitor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Shea, G. & Cogger, H. 2018. Varanus glebopalma. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T83778099A101752315. Downloaded on 19 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 Mitchell, F.J. (1955). "Preliminary account of the reptilia and amphibia collected by the National Geographic Society-Commonwealth Government-Smithsonian Institution Expedition to Arnhem Land (April to November, 1948)". Records of the South Australian Museum. 11: 373–408.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Varanus glebopalma at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 June 2019.
  4. ↑ "EOL.org". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  5. ↑ Biolib.cz
  6. 1 2 3 "Monitor-lizards.de". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Varanus glebopalma". Mampam conservation.
  8. ↑ Storr G.M. (1980). "The monitor lizards (genus Varanus Merrem, 1820) of Western Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum. 8 (2): 237–293.
  9. ↑ Losos, Jonathan B. & Greene, Harry W. (December 1988). "Ecological and evolutionary implications of diet in monitor lizards". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 35 (4): 379–407. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1988.tb00477.x.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Sweet, S. (1999). "Spatial ecology of Varanus glauerti and V. glebopalma in northern Australia". Mertensiella. 11: 317–366.
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