Peach-throated monitor
{{Short description|Species of lizard}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Varanus jobiensis.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}
| genus = Varanus
| parent = Varanus (Euprepiosaurus)
| species = jobiensis
| authority = Ahl, 1932[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=716518 "Varanus jobiensis at ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). ITIS.gov]
| synonyms = *Varanus indicus jobiensis
{{small|Ahl, 1932}}
- Varanus karlschmidti
{{small|Mertens, 1951}} - Varanus jobiensis
{{small|— Böhme, 1991}} - Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) jobiensis
{{small|— Ziegler et al., 2007}}
| synonyms_ref ={{EMBL species|genus=Varanus|species=jobiensis}} www.reptile-database.org.
}}
The peach-throated monitor (Varanus jobiensis), also known as the Sepik monitor, is a species of monitor lizard native to New Guinea.
Taxonomy
Varanus jobiensis belongs to the subgenus Euprepiosaurus, which includes species such as the blue-tailed monitor and mangrove monitor, both of which it is sympatric with in much of its range.
It is likely that this species is actually a species complex of multiple different species that have been diverging since the Pliocene, and diverged from the V. indicus species complex 4.7 million years ago.{{Cite journal|last=Weijola|first=Valter|last2=Vahtera|first2=Varpu|last3=Lindqvist|first3=Christer|last4=Kraus|first4=Fred|date=2019-07-23|title=A molecular phylogeny for the Pacific monitor lizards (Varanus subgenus Euprepiosaurus) reveals a recent and rapid radiation with high levels of cryptic diversity|url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/186/4/1053/5380493|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|volume=186|issue=4|pages=1053–1066|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz002|issn=0024-4082}}
Distribution
File:Peach-throated monitor (Varanus jobiensis).jpg, Papua New Guinea]]
Peach-throated monitors are endemic to New Guinea and surrounding islands such as Biak, Salawati, Yapen, Normanby, and Waigeo. It occurs in rainforests at altitudes of {{convert|0|-|900|m|ft|abbr=on}}.
Description
Peach-throated monitors grow up to {{convert|120|cm|ft}} in total length (including tail). The colour of the throat is white-yellow to red, to which one of its common names refers.
Diet
Peach-throated monitors primarily eat insects, and sometimes frogs, but may also take freshwater fish and small mammals.[http://www.mampam.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=65 Varanus jobiensi at mampam Consevation. mampam.com].
As food
Peach-throated monitors are hunted for human consumption in New Guinea.Pangau-Adam, Margaretha; Noske, Richard; Muehlenberg, Michael (2012). "Wildmeat or Bushmeat? Subsistence Hunting and Commercial Harvesting in Papua (West New Guinea), Indonesia". Human Ecology 40: 611–621.{{doi|10.1007/s10745-012-9492-5}}
Reproduction
Peach-throated monitors are oviparous.
Etymology
The specific name, jobiensis, which is Latin, means "from Jobi". Jobi is the island also known as Yapen, which is the type locality of this species.
The junior synonym, Varanus karlschmidti, was named in honour of American herpetologist Karl Patterson Schmidt.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Varanus karlschmidti, p. 236).
Gallery
File:Varanidae- Varanus jobiensis (Peach-throated Monitor) - 25420447277.jpg|Raja Ampat Papua, 2017
File:Varanidae- Varanus jobiensis (Peach-throated Monitor).jpg|Raja Ampat Papua, 2017
File:Varanidae- Varanus jobiensis (Peach-throated Monitor) - 40246479482.jpg|Raja Ampat Papua, 2017, note the peach coloured throat
File:Peach-throated Monitor Lizard (Varanus jobiensis) (CWPG).jpg|On wall
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Ahl E (1932). "Eine neue Eidechse und zwei neue Frösche von der Insel Jobi ". Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 17: 892–899. (Varanus indicus jobiensis, new subspecies, p. 892). (in German).
- Mertens R (1951). "A New Lizard of the Genus Varanus from New Guinea". Fieldiana Zoology 31 (43): 467–471. (Varanus karlschmidti, new species).
- Ziegler T, Schmitz A, Koch A, Böhme W (2007). "A review of the subgenus Euprepiosauras of Varanus (Squamata: Varanidae): morphological and molecular phylogeny, distribution and zoogeography, with an identification key for members of the V. indicus and V. prasinus species groups". Zootaxa 1472: 1-28.
External links
- [http://www.varanus.net/pics/peach/peach6.jpg Photo at Varanus.net]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100208122550/http://repticzone.com/caresheets/1409.html Care of Varanus jobiensis at Repticzone.com]
{{Varanoidea}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q578712}}
Category:Monitor lizards of New Guinea
Category:Endemic fauna of New Guinea
Category:Reptiles of Western New Guinea
Category:Reptiles of Papua New Guinea