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Varanus zugorum BÖHME & ZIEGLER, 2005

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Higher TaxaVaranidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymVaranus (Euprepiosaurus) zugorum BÖHME & ZIEGLER 2005: 52
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) zugorum — ZIEGLER et al. 2007
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) zugorum — KOCH et al. 2013
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) zugorum — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) zugorum — WEIJOLA & KRAUS 2023 
DistributionIndonesia (Halmahera)

Type locality: Halmahera, Moluccas, Indonesia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 237439 (juvenile) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Due to its outer genital structures (see below) the new species which is currently known only from the juvenile holotype, can be assigned to the subgenus Euprepiosaurus FITZINGER of Varanus. From the representatives of both the indicus and prasinus groups (sensu ZIEGLER & BÖHME 1997) as well as from any other currently known Varanus species, V. zugorum sp. n. can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: (1) uniformly greyish to greenish-olive above without distinct pattern, but with single bluish scales interspersed on neck and body; (2) light (yellowish to beige) underside; (3) tail tip with twelve discernible dark crossbands; (4) tongue dark bluish pigmented anteriorly, becoming distinctly lighter posteriorly (with broad whitish edges); (5) very slender habitus, with a particularly elongated neck; (6) dorsal neck scales rounded to oval, medially enlarged; (7) 134 scales around mid-body; (8) existence of at least one supportive structure in the outer genital organ, which is large and shovelshaped, broadened towards the tip with at least eight tiny, terminal indentations. (Böhme & Ziegler 2005)


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CommentThe type specimen of this species has originally been identified as Varanus indicus and deposited under that name at the USNM.

Abundance: only known from the type locality (Meiri et al. 2017). This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024. 
EtymologyNamed after George S. Zug and his wife Patricia. For biographical details see Mitchell 2018. 
References
  • Böhme, W. & T. Ziegler 2005. A new monitor lizard from Halmahera, Moluccas, Indonesia (Reptilia: Squamata: Varanidae). Salamandra 41 (1-2): 51-60 - get paper here
  • Koch A, Arida E, Schmitz A, Böhme W, Ziegler T. 2009. Refining the polytypic species concept of mangrove monitors (Squamata: Varanus indicus group): a new cryptic species from the Talaud Islands, Indonesia, reveals the underestimated diversity of Indo-Australian monitor lizards. Australian Journal of Zoology 57(1): 29-40 - get paper here
  • Koch A, Ziegler T, Böhme W, Arida E, Auliya M. 2013. Pressing Problems: Distribution, Threats, and Conservation Status of the Monitor Lizards (Varanidae: Varanus spp.) of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Herp. Cons. Biol. 8 (Monograph 3): 1 − 62. - get paper here
  • Koch, André; Mark Auliya & Thomas Ziegler 2010. Updated checklist of the living monitor lizards of the world (Squamata: Varanidae). Bonn Zool. Bull. 57 (2): 127–136 - get paper here
  • Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here
  • Meiri, Shai; Aaron M. Bauer, Allen Allison, Fernando Castro-Herrera, Laurent Chirio, Guarino Colli, Indraneil Das, Tiffany M. Doan, Frank Glaw, Lee L. Grismer, Marinus Hoogmoed, Fred Kraus, Matthew LeBreton, Danny Meirte, Zoltán T. Nagy, Cristiano d 2017. Extinct, obscure or imaginary: the lizard species with the smallest ranges. Diversity and Distributions - get paper here
  • Mitchell, Joseph C. 2018. George Robert Zug. Copeia 106 (2): 388-395 - get paper here
  • Weijola, Valter 2017. PHYLOGENY AND TAXONOMY OF THE PACIFIC MONITOR LIZARDS (SQUAMATA: VARANUS: EUPREPIOSAURUS). ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS 334 - get paper here
  • Weijola, Valter & Fred Kraus 2023. Two new species of monitor lizards (Squamata: Varanus) endemic to the Louisiade and Tanimbar Archipelagos with a key to the subgenus Euprepiosaurus. JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY 57 (13–16): 947–975
  • 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 - get paper here
  • Ziegler, Thomas; Wolfgang Böhme, Andreas Schmitz 2007. A new species of the Varanus indicus group (Squamata, Varanidae) from Halmahera Island, Moluccas: morphological and molecular evidence. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin 83 (S1): 109-119 - get paper here
 
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