Desert monitor
| Desert monitor | ||||||||||||
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Desert monitor ( Varanus griseus ) |
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| Varanus griseus | ||||||||||||
| ( Daudin , 1803) |
The desert monitor ( Varanus griseus ) is a lizard belonging to the genus of monitor lizards . Herodotus already reported on a "land crocodile" in the area of the Libyan nomadic people. In addition to the nominate form Varanus griseus griseus (Daudin, 1803), two further subspecies are distinguished: V. g. caspius (Eichwald, 1831) and V. g. konieczkyi Mertens , 1954.
features
The desert monitor grows up to 150 cm long and has a long-necked body typical of monitor lizards, but with a thicker tail than related species. The head is triangular in plan view, the blunt muzzle with nostrils close to the eyes is reminiscent of a beak. The desert monitor has up to six dark brown saddle spots on the sand-colored base. The drawing on the neck is longitudinally, on the tail crosswise. There is a labyrinth-like dot pattern all over the body, which can be light brown and yellow, sometimes white or not at all. The head is light and has a dark roof. The jaws sometimes have black stripes.
Way of life
Like all reptile-like animals, the desert monitor is cold- blooded and only searches for food in the morning and evening when it is neither too cold nor too hot in its desert habitats. At lunchtime and at night he crawls into a self-dug cave about two meters long. There he seeks protection from extreme temperatures, but also from predators such as eagles , big cats and hyenas . In parts of Asia it even hibernates for several months.
If the desert monitor is attacked, it fills its lungs with air, hisses threateningly and sometimes straightens up. If this does not drive away the enemy, he attacks surprisingly, biting and lashing his tail and distributing blows with his forelegs with pointed claws.
Mating season is from May to June. The males fight for the privilege of mating: the animals stand up, push the opponent with their front legs and try to knock them over. These fights are never fatal. Two to three weeks after mating, the female lays around eight eggs in a self-dug hollow and covers it with sand. Subsequent brood care does not take place. The young hatch after a maximum of ten months and live in secret until they reach sexual maturity at two and a half years.
Desert monitors mainly eat invertebrates , but also birds and small mammals . The species also dares to approach snakes - this has earned it the name "Snake King" in North Africa.
distribution
The desert monitor lives in desert and steppe areas from the entire Sahara in Africa over the Arabian Peninsula to the Middle East and South Asia. In detail, the following states belong to his area: Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia , Libya , Egypt , Western Sahara , Mauritania , Mali , Niger , Chad , Sudan , Israel , Syria , Lebanon , Turkey , Iraq , Saudi Arabia , United Arab Emirates , Oman , Turkmenistan , Kazakhstan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , Kyrgyzstan , Afghanistan , Iran (including the Dasht-e Kawir desert ), Pakistan and India . The widespread distribution is usually opposed by an only low population and individual density ( abundance ) of the species.
Hazard and protection
Because of its meat, among other things, the desert monitor is persecuted by humans; its eggs are also dug up for consumption. Hunting for the purpose of using its skin, which is processed into handbags, shoes and watch straps, has had a particularly negative effect on the population. Because of excessive hunting, the species was placed on Appendix I of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species (CITES). The trade in dead and living specimens as well as products of the desert monitor among all states of the Convention has been prohibited since then. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act , the species is also "strictly protected".
Desert monitor and human
Indian thieves have made use of the desert monitor as a "burglary tool". The thieves tie a rope around the body of the strong animals and get the climbers to climb over an insurmountable wall for humans. After climbing over the wall, the Varanus his instinct constrained according to a crack or gap, which the burglar previously under the dam crest has explored. The burglar then uses the monitor lizard as a living grappling hook by pulling himself up the wall on the rope. The desert monitor is strong enough to hold the weight of an adult in this way.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Species protection database "WISIA" (online)
- ↑ The Wonder World of Animals, Mystery and Adventure by Gunter Steinbach (Article: Strange Services) p. 231 ISBN 3906058190
literature
- Theo Jahn, Anne Calatin-Krauss: Brehm's New Animal Cyclopedia. Volume 9, Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau; Special edition for Prisma Verlag, Gütersloh 1983. ISBN 3-570-08612-7 .
