ornate monitor

{{Short description|Species of lizard}}

{{subspeciesbox

| classification_status = disputed

| image = OrnateMonitor.jpg

| genus = Varanus

| parent = Varanus (Polydaedalus)

| species = niloticus

| subspecies = ornatus

| authority = (Daudin, 1803)

}}

File:Hatchling varanus ornatus.jpg

The ornate monitor (Varanus niloticus ornatus) is a monitor lizard that is native to West and Middle Africa.[http://www.monitor-lizards.net/species/polydaedalus/ornatus.html Varanus ornatus] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100519024438/http://www.monitor-lizards.net/species/polydaedalus/ornatus.html |date=2010-05-19 }} Comprehensive molecular analyses of the group have demonstrated that animals previously assigned to "Varanus ornatus" do not constitute a valid taxon and are actually polymorphisms of two different species; Varanus stellatus (west African Nile monitor) and Varanus niloticus (Nile monitor).Dowell, S.A, D.M. Portik, V. de Buffrenil, I. Ineich, E. Greenbaum, S.O. Kolokotronis and E.R. Hekkala. (2015). Molecular data from contemporary and historical collections reveal a complex story of cryptic diversification in the Varanus (Polydaedalus) niloticus Species Group. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.004 Consequently, Varanus ornatus is considered a synonym of Varanus niloticus and "ornate monitor" is an informal term for forest forms of either species (V. niloticus or V. stellatus).

Until 1997, the ornate monitor was considered a subspecies of the Nile monitor.Mertens. Abh. senckenb. naturf. Ges. Frankfurt am Main, 465:177; 466:327. It was subsequently described as a separate species on the basis of reduced number of ocelli rows on the body, a light coloured tongue and a more massive build.Böhme, W., & Ziegler, T. (1997). A taxonomic review of the Varanus (Polydaedalus) niloticus (Linnaeus, 1766) species complex. The Herpetological Journal 7: 155-162. More recent work based on a large sample size using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences indicates that Varanus ornatus is not a valid species and that animals with the diagnostic appearance belong either of two sister species of Nile monitor. Animals described as ornate monitor lizards are native to closed canopy forests in West and Middle Africa.