Canopy Goanna

The Canopy Goanna (Varanus keithhornei) is a species of monitor lizard, native to Northeast Australia. It is also known as the Blue-nosed goanna^[3] or occasionally as the Nesbit River Monitor^[4] It belongs to the subgenus Euprepiosaurus^[5] and is a member of the Varanus prasinus species group.^[6]

This monitor lizard is found in a restricted range near the Nesbit River, or in the McIlwraith or Iron Mountain Ranges on the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland.^[7][8]

Description

The colouration of Varanus keithhornei is dark black on the upper side. It has moderately big and smooth head scales. Its tail has no visible keel.^[9] The Canopy Goanna is small for a montor lizard, reaching a total length up to 77 cm.^[10]

References

Further reading

• Photos of Varanus keithhornei at Pbase.com
• Anonymous 2001. Opinion 1970 - Odatria keithhornei WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985 (Reptilia, Sauria): specific name placed on Official List. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 58 (1): 74
• Bleeker, P. 1856. Reis Minahassa 1: 278
• Cogger,H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
• Czechura, G. V. 1980. The emerald monitor Varanus prasinus (Schlegel): an addition to the Australian mainland herpetofauna. Mem. Qd Mus. 20: 103-109
• De Lisle, H.F. 1996. Natural History of Monitor Lizards. Krieger, Malabar (Florida)
• Eidenmüller, B. 2007. Small monitors in the terrarium. Reptilia (GB) (50): 12-19
• Sprackland, R. G. 1991. Taxonomic review of the Varanus prasinus group with descriptions of two new species. Mem. Queensl. Museum, 3 (3): 561-576.
• Wells, R. W. and Wellington, C. R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology, Supplementary Series, (1):1-61.
• Ziegler, T. & W. BÖHME 1998. Comments on the proposed conservation of the specific name Varanus teriae SPRACKLAND, 1991 (Reptilia, Squamata) (Case 3043; see BZN 54: 100-103, 250-251; 55: 37-39). Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 55 (2): 111-113.
• Ziegler, T., Schmitz, A., Koch, A. & W. Böhme 2007. A review of the subgenus Euprepiosaurus of Varanus (Squamata: Varanidae): morphological and molecular phylogeny, distribution and zoogeography, with an identification key for the members of the V. indicus and the V. prasinus species groups. Zootaxa 1472: 1-28