Friday, February 6, 2015

Creature Feature #475: Monitor Lizard

There are 77 species of Monitor Lizards, characterised by their sturdy limbs, powerful tails and claws and their long necks. Most favour a terrestrial lifestyle, although some species are arboreal. They occur naturally in Africa, Oceania and Asia. The Nile Monitor has established itself in Florida, where it is regarded as an Invasive Pest. Monitor Lizards are considered intelligent and have been known to hunt cooperatively to raid crocodile nests, with one lizard luring the mother crocodile away whilst the other breaks open the nest. The decoy then returns to help devour the eggs before the crocodile returns.

This speciman is an Australian Monitor Lizard, also known as a Perentie.

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