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Varanus tristis SCHLEGEL, 1839

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Higher TaxaVaranidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesVaranus tristis tristis (SCHLEGEL 1839)
Varanus tristis orientalis FRY 1913 
Common NamesE: Black-tailed Monitor, Black-headed Monitor [tristis]
E: Freckled Monitor [orientalis]
G: Trauerwaran, Getüpfelter Baumwaran [orientalis] 
SynonymVaranus tristis tristis (SCHLEGEL 1839)
Odatria punctata GRAY 1838: 394 (non Varanus punctatus MERREM 1820)
Monitor tristis SCHLEGEL 1839: 73
Varanus punctatus — BOULENGER 1885: 322
Varanus punctatus — STERNFELD 1925: 238
Varanus timorensis tristis — MERTENS 1937
Varanus occidentalis ZINNIKER 1961 (nomen dubium fide MERTENS 1963)
Varanus tristis tristis — STORR 1980: 287
Varanus tristis — COGGER 2000: 377
Varanus tristis — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Varanus (Odatria) tristis tristis — HÖRENBERG & KOCH 2013
Varanus (Odatria) tristis — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50

Varanus tristis orientalis FRY 1913
Varanus punctatus orientalis FRY 1913
Varanus timorensis orientalis — MERTENS 1942
Varanus timorensis orientalis — MERTENS 1950: 2
Varanus (Odatria) tristis centralis MERTENS 1957
Varanus tristis orientalis — STORR 1980
Varanus tristis orientalis — PIEH 1999
Varanus tristis orientalis — COGGER 2000: 379
Varanus tristis orientalis — EIDENMÜLLER 2007
Varanus (Odatria) tristis orientalis — HÖRENBERG & KOCH 2013 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia)

tristis: W and C Australia; Type locality: Swan River, W. A.

orientalis: N and NE Australia; Type locality: Eidsvold, upper Burnett River, Queensland, Australia.

Type locality: unknown; restricted to W. A. by Mertens (1963) [occidentalis]  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: RMNH 3858 (Monitor tristis)
Holotype: BMNH i.3a, from Shark Bay, W. A. [Odatria punctata]
Lectotype: AMS (AM) R5313, from Eidsvold, upper Burnett River, Qld, collected T.L. Bancroft, J.B. Cleland & T.H. Johnstone. Designation by Mertens (1958), following Shea & Sadlier (1999). [orientalis]
Holotype: SMF 11632, from Hermannsburg, Finke River, N. T. [tristis centralis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A medium-sized arboreal monitor (up to 75 cm long) with tail not strongly compressed, caudal scales strongly keeled and mucronate, and a circular or squarish cluster of large black or black-and-white scales on each ventrolateral surface of base of tail (smaller and less spiny in females and young males). Further distinguishable from V. timorensis by longer snout, flatter unspotted head, pale caudal rings not extending for more than half-way down tail (and usually for much less), longer appendages, more numerous midbody scale rows, and supraorbital scales sharply differentiated from interorbitals. (Storr 1980)


Additional details (4288 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy mainly that of COGGER 1983.

Similar species: V. gouldii 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin tristis (sad), in reference to the dark coloration of the type population. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
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  • Akeret, Beat 2014. Geschichtliches zur Haltung von Waranen in Deutschland und der Schweiz. Terraria-Elaphe 2014 (6): 14-21 - get paper here
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  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here
  • 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
  • Christian, T. 1981. Varanus tristis - a variable monitor. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 12: 7-12
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  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
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  • Eidenmüller, B. 1989. Beobachtungen bei der Haltung und Nachzucht von Varanus (Odatria) tristis orientalis FRY 1913. Salamandra 25 (3-4): 265-271 - get paper here
  • Eidenmüller, B. 2007. Kleinwarane im Terrarium. Reptilia (Münster) 12 (63): 16-23 - get paper here
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  • Fry, D. B. 1913. On a Varanus and a frog from Burnett River, Queensland, and a revision of the variations in Limnodynastes dorsalis Gray. Rec. Austral. Mus. 10: 17-34 - 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
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  • Hörenberg, Thomas 2013. Erfahrungen bei der Pflege und Nachzucht des Schwarzkopfwarans, Varanus tristis tristis. Draco 13 (53): 69-77 - get paper here
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  • 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
  • Maryan, B., Gaikhorst, G., & Parkhurst, B. 2024. The terrestrial herpetofauna of the Zuytdorp coast and hinterland of Western Australia: Exceptional richness in a global biodiversity hotspot. Western Australian Naturalist, 33, 3
  • McCurry MR, Mahony M, Clausen PD, Quayle MR, Walmsley CW, Jessop TS, et al. 2015. The Relationship between Cranial Structure, Biomechanical Performance and Ecological Diversity in Varanoid Lizards. PLoS One 10 (6): e0130625. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130625 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1942. Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae), 3. Teil: Taxonomie. Abh. Senckenb. naturf. Ges., 466: 235-391
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  • Mertens, R. 1963. Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien; Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Lanthanotidae. Das Tierreich 79: i-x, 1-26 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E. R. 1969. Habitat specificity, speciation, and species density in Australian desert lizards. Ecology 50 (3): 498-502 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E. R. 1971. Notes on the biology of Varanus tristis. Western Australian Naturalist 11: 180-182 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E. R. and D. R. King, eds. 2004. Varanoid Lizards of the World. Indiana University Press, 599 pp - get paper here
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  • Thompson,G.G.; E. R. Pianka & M. de Boer 1999. Body temperatures of an arboreal monitor lizard, Varanus tristis (Squamata: Varanidae), during the breeding season. Amphibia-Reptilia 20 (1): 82-88 - get paper here
  • Wesiak, K. 2007. Die Nachzucht des Getüpfelten Baumwarans Varanus (Odatria) tristis orientalis FRY, 1913, als Resultat einer konstruktiven Zusammenarbeit. Sauria 29 (4): 49-52 - get paper here
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