Varanus bitatawa

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Varanus bitatawa
Varanus bitatawa

Varanus bitatawa

Systematics
without rank: Toxicofera
without rank: Sneaky (Anguimorpha)
Family : Varanidae
Genre : Monitor lizards ( varanus )
Subgenus : Philippinosaurus
Type : Varanus bitatawa
Scientific name
Varanus bitatawa
Welton , Siler , Bennett , Diesmos , Duya , Dugay , Rico , Van Weerd & Brown , 2010

Varanus bitatawa is a large tree-living lizard from the genus of monitor lizards ( Varanus ), which feeds on fruits and snails. It was not scientifically described until 2010. Their currently known distribution area is limited to the forests of the northern and central Sierra Madre in the eastern area of ​​the Philippine island of Luzon . It ishunted for foodby two indigenous peoples of the Aurora provincewho call the lizard Butikaw. The species is endangered by the destruction of its habitat. A protected area is the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park .

Appearance

The monitor lizard can be up to two meters long, but only weighs a maximum of 10 kilograms. His skin is tinted dark gray and speckled with golden yellow spots. He lives very hidden and stays almost exclusively in trees.

Systematics

Varanus bitatawa is closely related to the Panay monitor lizard ( Varanus mabitang ) and Gray monitor lizard ( Varanus olivaceus ), two other mainly vegetarian monitor lizards from the Philippines. The latter also occurs on Luzon, but in the south. In order to determine the status of Varanus bitatawa as a species different from Varanus olivaceus , both morphological data and DNA of the nucleus and mitochondria (mtDNA) were compared. It also differs in color, scale, body size and the anatomy of the genital organs.

literature

  • Luke J. Welton, Cameron D. Siler, Daniel Bennett, Arvin Diesmos, M. Roy Duya, Roldan Dugay, Edmund Leo B. Rico, Merlijn Van Weerd, Rafe M. Brown: A spectacular new Philippine monitor lizard reveals a hidden biogeographic boundary and a novel flagship species for conservation. Biology Letters, 2010; doi : 10.1098 / rsbl.2010.0119

Web links

Commons : Varanus bitatawa  - collection of images, videos and audio files