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Varanus rosenbergi MERTENS, 1957

IUCN Red List - Varanus rosenbergi - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaVaranidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Heath Monitor
Italian: Varano delle brughiere 
SynonymVaranus gouldii rosenbergi MERTENS 1957: 17
Varanus rosenbergi — STORR 1980: 280
Varanus rosenbergi — COGGER 1983
Pantherosaurus kuringai WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 22
Varanus rosenbergi — DE LISLE 1996: 133
Varanus rosenbergi — COGGER 2000: 372
Varanus rosenbergi — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Varanus (Varanus) rosenbergi — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, South Australia, SW Victoria, S Western Australia)

Type locality: Monigup Pass, Stirling Range, W. A.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: WAM R822 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A large ground monitor (up to 103 cm long) with strongly compressed tail. Generally similar to V. gouldii, and differing mainly in coloration, especially black bands on neck and back, dark tail-tip and dark reticulation or banding of under surfaces. (Storr 1980)


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CommentSynonymy: partly after SHEA & SADLIER 1999. 
EtymologyNamed after Baron Carl (originally Karl) Benjamin Hermann von Rosenberg (1817-1888), a German naturalist, ornithologist, and geographer who collected in the East Indies and mapped outlying districts of the archipelago. 
References
  • Andrews, R. M., Brandley, M. C. and Greene, V. W. 2013. Developmental sequences of squamate reptiles are taxon specific. Evolution & Development, 15: 326–343. doi: 10.1111/ede.12042 - get paper here
  • Andrews, Robin M.; Nadav Pezaro, J. Sean Doody, Fiorenzo Guarino and Brian Green 2017. Oviposition to Hatching: Development of Varanus rosenbergi. Journal of Herpetology 51 (3): 396 - get paper here
  • Badiane, Arnaud 2017. Predation on an eastern water dragon (Intellegama lesueurii) by a heath monitor (Varanus rosenbergi) in Royal National Park, Australia. Herpetology Notes 10: 339 - get paper here
  • Bennet, D.F. 2003. The Varanus gouldii group. Reptilia (GB) (30): 27-29 - get paper here
  • Bennet, D.F. 2003. Der Varanus-gouldii-Komplex. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (43): 26-28 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Böhme, W. 1988. Der Arguswaran (Varanus panoptes, Storr 1980) auf Neuguinea: Varanus panoptes horni spp. n. Salamandra 24 (2-3): 87-101 - get paper here
  • Bush, B. 1981. Reptiles of the Kalgoorlie-Esperance Region. B. Bush, Perth, 46 pp - get paper here
  • Christian, K. & B. Weavers 1994. Analysis of the Activity and Energetics of the Lizard Varanus rosenbergi Copeia 1994 (2): 289-295. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Ellis, R.J. 2018. An annotated type catalogue of varanid lizards (Reptilia: Squamata: Varanidae) in the collection of the Western Australian Museum. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 33:187-194, DOI: 10.18195/issn.0312-3162.33(2).2018.187-194 - get paper here
  • Escoriza Boj, D. 2005. Australia. Reptiles and Amphibians, Part 1: Rainforest. Reptilia (GB) (40): 70-75 - get paper here
  • FRÝDLOVÁ, PETRA and DANIEL FRYNTA 2010. A test of Rensch’s rule in varanid lizards. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 100: 293–306 - get paper here
  • Iannucci, Alessio; Marie Altmanová, Claudio Ciofi, Malcolm Ferguson-Smith, Massimo Milan, Jorge Claudio Pereira, James Pether, Ivan Rehák, Michail Rovatsos, Roscoe Stanyon, Petr Velenský, Petr Ráb, Lukáš Kratochvíl & Martina Johnson Pokorná 2019. Conserved sex chromosomes and karyotype evolution in monitor lizards (Varanidae). Heredity 123, 215–227 - get paper here
  • King,D. & Green,B. 1999. Monitors, the biology of varanid lizards. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 116 pp.
  • Lisle, H.F. de 1996. Natural History of Monitor Lizards. Krieger, Malabar (Florida)
  • Maryan, Brad;Robinson, David 1987. Field compatability observations [Varanus rosenbergi; Pseudonaja a. affinis]. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 17 (1-2): 11-12
  • Matsubara Kazumi; Stephen D Sarre; Arthur Georges, Yoichi Matsuda, Jennifer A. Marshall Graves; Tariq Ezaz 2014. Highly Differentiated ZW Sex Microchromosomes in the Australian Varanus Species Evolved through Rapid Amplification of Repetitive Sequences. Plos One 9(4): e95226 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1957. Ein neuer melanistischer Waran aus dem südlichen Australien. (V. gouldii rosenbergi, subsp. nov.). Zool. Anz. 159: 17-20
  • Pianka, E. R. and D. R. King, eds. 2004. Varanoid Lizards of the World. Indiana University Press, 599 pp - get paper here
  • Rismiller, P. et al. 2007. Life History studies of Rosenberg’s Goanna (Varanus rosenbergi) on Kangaroo Island, south Australia. Biawak 1 (1): 42-43 - get paper here
  • Rismiller, Peggy D.; Michael W. McKelvey, and Brian Green 2010. Breeding Phenology and Behavior of Rosenberg's Goanna (Varanus rosenbergi) on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Journal of Herpetology 44 (3): 399–408 - get paper here
  • Shea, G. M. 1994. Three species of goanna occur in the Sydney Basin. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 24 (2): 14-18
  • Smith, W.; Scott, I.A.W. & Keogh, J.S. 2007. Molecular phylogeography of Rosenberg’s goanna (Reptilia:Varanidae: Varanus rosenbergi) and its conservation status in New South Wales. Systematics and Biodiversity 5 (4): 361–369 - get paper here
  • Storr G M 1980. The monitor lizards (genus Varanus Merrem, 1820) of Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 8 (2): 237-293 - get paper here
  • Sutherland, Duncan R 2011. Dietary Niche Overlap and Size Partitioning in Sympatric Varanid Lizards. Herpetologica 67 (2): 146-153. - get paper here
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
  • Zdunek, Przemysław; John Sullivan 2023. Predation attempt by a Southern Heath Monitor, Varanus rosenbergi (Varanidae), on a Western Shingleback Lizard, Tiliqua rugosa (Scincidae), in Southwest Australia. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18971 - get paper here
 
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