Fog monitor
| Fog monitor | ||||||||||||
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Fog monitor ( Varanus nebulosus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Varanus nebulosus | ||||||||||||
| ( Gray , 1831) |
The fog monitor ( Varanus nebulosus ) is a species of the scalloped reptiles (Squamata) from the genus of the monitor lizards ( Varanus ). It occurs in southern Myanmar , Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, as well as Java . There may also be populations on Sumatra .
features
The fog monitor can reach a total length of 150 cm, whereby the tail is longer than the head and trunk together (SL: KRL = 1.29 to 1.70). The body is strongly built, the head is broad with a short snout. The nostrils are slit-shaped and narrow and are sloping on the side of the snout, closer to the eye than to the tip of the snout. The Canthus rostralis is angular, the ear openings are larger than the eyes. The scales on the neck are larger than the scales on the back of the head, slightly larger than the scales on the back, smooth or only slightly keeled. The dorsal scales are small, elongated, and keeled. They are larger than the scales on the sides of the body. Between the cervical fold and the attachment of the hind legs there are 70 to 90 rows of elongated, weakly keeled ventralia . Around the middle of the body there are 149 to 163 rows of scales. The legs are strong, the hind legs longer than the front legs. The toes are long and have curved claws. Preanal pores are absent. The tail is strongly flattened on the sides and has a double low crest in the middle.
The fog monitor is light gray or olive brown to olive yellow in color and patterned with yellowish spots or eye spots arranged in bands. The belly is marbled yellow and brown. The chin and throat are darkly spotted or streaked. In young animals, the yellowish banding and spots are more pronounced.
Way of life
The fog monitor occurs in primary and secondary forests in the flatlands or in hilly regions up to an altitude of 1200 meters. It lives mainly near water, young and adolescent lizards on trees, more fully grown ones on the ground. It feeds on insects, spiders, worms, frogs, toads, smaller lizards (including small monitor lizards), snakes, small mammals, birds, as well as lizard, snake, turtle and bird eggs. When threatened, the animals hiss and hit their tails. Usually they don't bite. Like all monitor lizards, the fog monitor is oviparous . A clutch contains about 10 to 30 eggs, which are 27 to 50 mm long and 17 44 mm in diameter. When hatching, the young monitor are about 17.5 to 21 cm long with a head-trunk length of 13 to 21 cm.
literature
- Ulrich Manthey, Wolfgang Grossmann: Amphibians & Reptiles of Southeast Asia. Natur und Tier Verlag (1997), ISBN 978-3931587123 , pages 288-289.
