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Varanus acanthurus BOULENGER, 1885

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Higher TaxaVaranidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Ridgetail Monitor
G: (Roter) Stachelschwanzwaran 
SynonymVaranus acanthurus acanthurus BOULENGER 1885
Odatria ocellata GRAY 1845: 8 (non Varanus ocellatus HEYDEN 1830)
Regenia ocellata — GÜNTHER 1861: 60
Varanus ocellatus — BLANFORD 1870: 445
Varanus acanthurus BOULENGER 1885: 324 (nom. nov. pro Odatria ocellata)
Varanus acanthurus brachyurus STERNFELD 1919
Varanus acanthurus brachyurus — STERNFELD 1925: 239
Varanus acanthurus — STORR 1980
Varanus acanthurus — COGGER 1983
Worrellisaurus acanthurus — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 22
Worrellisaurus brachyurus — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 22
Varanus acanthurus acanthurus — DE LISLE 1996: 116
Varanus acanthurus brachyurus — DE LISLE 1996: 116
Varanus acanthurus — COGGER 2000: 359
Varanus acanthurus brachyurus — BÖHME 2003: 29
Varanus acanthurus brachyurus — ARTH 2007
Varanus (Odatria) acanthurus — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50
Varanus acanthurus — PAVÓN-VÁZQUEZ et al. 2022 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia)

acanthurus: NW Australia; Type locality: northwest coast of Australia.

brachyurus: remaining area; Type locality: Hermannsburg, Finke River, central Australia [Northern Territory].  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.30.97 (cited in error by Cogger et al., 1983 as 1945.8.30.97) (formerly i.2a)
Holotype: BMNH 1945.8.30.97 [Odatria ocellata]
Lectotype: SMF 11640 (formerly 5324a), from Hermannsburg Mission, upper Finke River, N. T., designated by Mertens 1967 [brachyurus] 
Diagnosis 
CommentSynonymy: Some recent authors considered V. a. brachyurus as a synonym of V. acanthurus (Glenn Shea, pers. comm., Feb 2019, Pavón-Vázquez et al. 2022). 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Greek akantha (thorn) plus oura (tail), referring to the spinose scales covering the tail. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
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  • Adragna, J. & Madden, G.M. 2009. Mending a Ruptured Varanus acanthurus brachyurus egg. Biawak 3 (4): 144-146 - get paper here
  • Amer, Sayed A. M. and Yoshinori Kumazawa 2008. Timing of a mtDNA gene rearrangement and intercontinental dispersal of varanid lizards. Genes Genet. Syst. 83: 275–280 - get paper here
  • Arth, S. 2007. Haltung und Nachzucht des Stachelschwanzwarans (Varanus acanthurus). Reptilia (Münster) 12 (63): 24-33 - get paper here
  • Arth, S. 2007. Keeping and breeding the spiny-tailed Monitor Varanus acanthurus. Reptilia (GB) (50): 28-36 - get paper here
  • Ávalos, J. de & Martínez Carrión, P. 1997. Warane. Reptilia (Münster) 2 (5): 16-21 - get paper here
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  • Blanford, W.T. 1870. Observations of the geology and zoology of Abyssinia, made 1867-68. McMillan (London), xii + 487 pp. - get paper here
  • Bonetti, Mathilde 2002. 100 Sauri. Mondadori (Milano), 192 pp. - get paper here
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  • BUCKLITSCH, YANNICK; WOLFGANG BÖHME, ANDRÉ KOCH 2016. Scale Morphology and Micro-Structure of Monitor Lizards (Squamata: Varanidae: Varanus spp.) and their Allies: Implications for Systematics, Ecology, and Conservation. . Zootaxa 4153 (1): 001–192 - get paper here
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  • Dobry, J., Wapstra, E., Stringer, E.J. et al. 2023. Widespread chromosomal rearrangements preceded genetic divergence in a monitor lizard, Varanus acanthurus (Varanidae). Chromosome Res 31, 9 (2023) - get paper here
  • Doody, J. Sean, Clulow, Simon, McHenry, Colin, Brown, Mike, Vas, Gary and Canning, Gordon 2017. Varanus acanthurus (Spiny-tailed Monitor Lizard) Communal nesting, reproduction, and commensalism. Herpetological Review 48 (1): 203 - get paper here
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  • King, M.; Mengden, G.A.; King, D. 1982. A pericentric-inversion polymorphism and s ZZ/ZW sex-chromosome system in Varanus acanthurus Boulenger analyzed by G-and C-banding and Ag staining. Genetica 58 (1): 39-45. - get paper here
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  • 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
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  • Ollonen, J., Khannoon, E. R., Macrì, S., Vergilov, V., Kuurne, J., Saarikivi, J., ... & Di-Poï, N. 2024. Dynamic evolutionary interplay between ontogenetic skull patterning and whole-head integration. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-16 - get paper here
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