Varanus iridis ZOZAYA, READ, MACOR, PAVÓN-VÁZQUEZ, GALE, WRIGHT & BROADY, 2026
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Varanus iridis?
Varanus iridis
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| Higher Taxa | Varanidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Rainbow rock monitor |
| Synonym | Varanus iridis ZOZAYA, READ, MACOR, PAVÓN-VÁZQUEZ, GALE, WRIGHT & BROADY 2026: 11 |
| Distribution | Australia (Queensland) Type locality: Springfield Station, Queensland (17.8994°S, 144.4182°E), |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: QM J99220 (field no. SMZ3569), male, collected 26 May 2024 by S.A. Macor, S.M. Zozaya, and S. Tiatragul. Paratypes: QM J99221 (field no. SMZ3570), female, collection details identical to holotype; QM J99219 (field no. SMZ3471), female, Talaroo Station, Queensland (18.0197°S, 143.7978°E), collected 12 July 2023 by S.M. Zozaya, S.A. Macor, and W.J. Read. Other material: QM J68632 (Supporting Information, Fig. S3), female, Lynd River, Amber Hut, Queensland (17.725°S, 144.2917°E), collected 25 August 1977. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Distinguished from all Varanus by the combination of: small body size (SVL ≤144 mm; total length to 427 mm); slender build; head and body dorsoventrally depressed; tail moderately long (197%–220% of SVL), thin, and circular in cross-section midway along its length; scales on the supraorbital semicircles significantly smaller than, and sharply delineated from, interocular scales; midbody scale rows 136–160; paracloacal spurs in males bluntly pointed, not terminating in an attenuated spine, and similar in size or slightly enlarged compared with adjacent scales; dorsal and lateral scales on tail bluntly keeled or weakly mucronate; plantar scales and subdigital lamellae hemispherical and darkly pigmented to varying degrees; granules bordering primary midbody dorsal scales extend ≤50% to anterior scale margin; ground color in life yellow on head, grading posteriorly to cyan, turquoise, or aquamarine on nape and forebody, then to orange–red or reddish-brown on dorsum, fading to brown–grey on tail; dark dorsal reticulum continuous anteriorly, becoming increasingly discontinuous and irregular posteriorly; well-defined pale ocelli (i.e., where dorsal reticulum is continuous), each with a distinct dark central spot or blotch and a surrounding pale ring two to three scales wide; dorsal surfaces of fore- and hindlimbs with distinct dark-edged ocelli, similar to dorsum; patterning on dorsal and lateral surfaces of tail sparse and indistinct, at most comprising dark flecks, mottling, blotches, or narrow bars anteriorly. (Zozaya et al. 2026) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about between half a page and a page) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. |
| Comment | Distribution: see map in Zozaya et al. 2026: Fig. 1. |
| Etymology | Named after the genitive form of the Latin iris, meaning ‘of the rainbow’. This refers to the remarkable color transitions across the dorsum of this species, spanning from yellow on the head, through tones of blue on the nape, to red on the body. The name is treated as a noun in apposition. |
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