Varanus semotus WEIJOLA, DONNELLAN & LINDQVIST, 2016
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Varanus semotus
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| Higher Taxa | Varanidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Mussau Monitor |
| Synonym | Varanus semotus WEIJOLA, DONNELLAN & LINDQVIST 2016 Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) semotus — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50 Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) semotus — WEIJOLA & KRAUS 2023 |
| Distribution | Papua New Guinea (Mussau Island) Type locality: north of the village of Nai, 30 September 2012, 2m elev. Mussau Island, St. Matthias group, Papua New Guinea, latitude -1.525, longitude. 149.749 |
| Reproduction | oviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: UAZM (given as ZMUT, Turku, Finland) Sa176 (field nr. 60) (Figs 1–2) collected by Valter Weijola. Paratypes. UAZM (ZMUT) Sa177 (field nr 64), UAZM (ZMUT) Sa178 (field nr 66) collected by Weijola near Nai 4 and 7 October 2012. Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea, lati- tude -1.525, longitude 149.749, ZMUC 4272 (field number E192) and ZMUC 4273 (field number E282) collected by the Noona Dan Expedition (presumably by Søren Andersen) on 19 January and 5 February 1962 at Talumalau, Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Varanus semotus sp. n. is distinguished from all other species of Vara- nus by a combination of the following characters. (1) Tongue white/pinkish to pale yellow (white in preservative) occasionally with small patches of dark pigmentation, the yellow pigment concentrated along the mid-dorsal line and the dorsal surface of the tines (Fig. 2). (2) Gular region marbled in black and cream-white. (3) The tail of adult individuals is indistinctly banded on the distal half, with a varying degree of turquoise to bluish pigmentation on the distal 2/3. (4) Juveniles are black with white spots on the head, yellow and orange spots on the dorsum, and have well defined cream colored to pale greenish tail bands (Fig. 3C). (5) The number of dorsal scales, XY, ranges from 149 to 153. (6) The number of midbody scale rows, S, ranges from 152 to 161. (7) The dorsum is black with single- and clustered groups of dispersed yellow/orange scales. (8) There are several complete rows of paryphasmata across the asulcal side of the hemipenis below the lobes. (9) Geographical distribution restricted to Mussau Island. |
| Comment | Similar species: V. finschi is the closest relative of V. semotus (also geographically the closest). Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | The specific epithet semotus is Latin for distant or remote and refers to the isolated occurrence on Mussau, separated by several hundred kilometers from its closest relatives. |
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