Raunackenwaran
| Raunackenwaran | ||||||||||||
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Rough-naped monitor ( Varanus rudicollis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Varanus rudicollis | ||||||||||||
| ( Gray , 1845) |
The Raunackenwaran ( Varanus rudicollis ) is a kind of Squamata (squamates) from the genus of lizards ( Varanus ). It occurs in southern Thailand, Malaysia , Sumatra , Bangka and Borneo , possibly also in Myanmar .
features
The ruffle-naped monitor can reach a total length of 120 cm, possibly also 1.60 m, whereby the tail is longer than the head and trunk together (SL: KRL = 1.27 to 1.61). The body is strongly built, the head is long and narrow with a slender muzzle. The nostrils are slit-shaped and narrow and lie horizontally on the side of the snout, closer to the eye than to the tip of the snout. The Canthus rostralis is rounded, the ear openings are medium-sized. The eponymous, strong and strongly keeled scales on the neck stand in ten to twelve longitudinal rows. The dorsal scales are also keeled. Between the fold of the neck and the attachment of the hind legs there are 79 to 90 rows of elongated ventralia . Around the middle of the body there are 139 to 169 rows of scales. The legs are strong, the hind legs much longer than the front legs. The toes are long and have strong claws. Preanal pores are absent. The tail is laterally flattened and has two central rows of keeled scales.
The ruffle-naped monitor is colored black to dark olive on the back, the top of the head and neck are gray-black, the sides of the neck olive to reddish. Adult specimens are often solid black. In the case of very young ruffle monitor monitors, the tops of the head and neck are whitish or yellowish, the sides of the neck are pink to smoky gray, the back is glossy black with yellow transverse bands and the underside of the head, the belly and the underside of the tail are patterned with wide black and yellow bars. With increasing age the lizards initially become lighter, later darker again. Adolescents show bands of light green spots on the top of the body.
Way of life
The Raunackenwaran is relatively rare and occurs only in primary rainforests in the lowlands or in hilly regions. It lives mainly in trees and has a short escape distance. If alarmed, however, the lizards can flee at lightning speed. Like all monitor lizards it is oviparous . A clutch contains about 4 to 13 eggs, which are 55 to 60 mm long and 31 to 44 mm wide. When hatching, the young monitor lizards are around 24 to 26 cm long, with a head-trunk length of around 10 cm.
literature
- Ulrich Manthey, Wolfgang Grossmann: Amphibians & Reptiles of Southeast Asia. Natur und Tier Verlag (1997), ISBN 978-3931587123 , pp. 291-292.
