| Varanus bitatawa | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Scleroglossa |
| Infraorder: | Anguimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Varanoidea |
| Family: | Varanidae |
| Genus: | Varanus |
| Subgenus: | V. (Philippinosaurus) |
| Species: | V. bitatawa |
| Binomial name | |
| Varanus bitatawa Welton, Siler, Bennett, Diesmos, Duya, Dugay, Rico, Van Weerd, & Brown, 2010 |
|
Varanus bitatawa, known by the common name northern Sierra Madre Forest monitor lizard, is a large, arboreal, frugivorous lizard of the genus Varanus.[1] The lizard is eaten by the Aeta and Ilongot indigenous people of the Philippines,[2] who call it Butikaw.
Contents |
The forest monitor lizard can grow to more than 2 metres (6.6 ft) in length, but weighs only about 10 kilograms (22 lb). It is brightly colored with stripes of gold flecks.[1] Its scaly body and legs are a blue-black, mottled color, with pale yellow-green dots, and its tail is marked in alternating segments of black and green.[3]
News reports emphasized that males have hemipenes, paired penis-like organs.[3][4] However, all male lizards and snakes have hemipenes.[5]
One of only three frugivorous monitor lizards in the world, the forest monitor prefers to eat the fruit of Pandanus trees.[1]
V. bitatawa is closely related to the Komodo dragon of Indonesia. It was confirmed as a new species in April 2010 by biologists from the University of Kansas. DNA analysis has revealed a deep genetic divergence between this species and its closest relative, Gray's monitor (Varanus olivaceus), which is also a fruit-eater, but lives on the southern end of Luzon, rather than the northern end where the forest monitor lizard lives. These findings were published in Biology Letters, a journal of the Royal Society.[6]
The lizard's known range is currently limited to the Sierra Madre Forest, in the northeastern coast of the island of Luzon, Philippines.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||