Varanus giganteus (GRAY, 1845)

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Higher Taxa	Varanidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Perentie
Synonym	Hydrosaurus giganteus GRAY 1845: 13 Varanus giganteus — BOULENGER 1885: 320 Varanus (Varanus) giganteus — MERTENS 1942 Varanus giganteus — STORR 1980: 254 Varanus giganteus — COGGER 1983 Titanzius giganteus — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 22 Varanus giganteus — DE LISLE 1996: 125 Varanus giganteus — COGGER 2000: 362 Varanus giganteus — WILSON & SWAN 2010 Varanus (Varanus) giganteus — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50
Distribution	Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia) Type locality: N coast of Australia
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Holotype: BMNH 1.22a
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: A very large ground monitor (up to 2 m long) with tail strongly compressed, back with transverse rows of large pale spots, and under surface with a dark reticulum. Further distinguishable from V. gouldii, V. panoptes and V. rosenbergi by the narrow parallel-sided snout, nostril about twice as far from orbit as snout, and more numerous midbody scale rows and subdigital lamellae. (Storr 1980: 254) Additional details (2136 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment
Etymology	Presumably named after the Greek gigas (giant), referring to the very large size of the species. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024)
References	Bennet, D.F. 2003. Australische Warane. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (43): 18-25 - get paper here Bennet, D.F. 2003. Australian Monitors. Reptilia (GB) (30): 12-19 - get paper here Böhme,W. 2003. Checklist of the living monitor lizards of the world (family Varanidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen 341: 6-43 - get paper here 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 Bredl, J. & Horn, H.-G. 1987. Über die Nachzucht des australischen Riesenwarans Varanus giganteus (GRAY 1845) (Sauria: Varanidae). Salamandra 23 (2-3): 90-96 - 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. Eidenmüller, Bernd 2013. Von Darwin nach Alice Springs – der Warane wegen. Draco 13 (53): 55-61 - 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 Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - get paper here Horn, H.-G. & Visser, G. J. 1988. Freilandbeobachtungen und einige morphometrische Angaben zu Varanus giganteus (GRAY 1845). Salamandra 24 (2-3): 102-118 - get paper here Houston, T. F. 1978. Dragon Lizards and Goannas of South Australia. Adelaide: South Australian Museum 84 pp. 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 Madonald, S. 2007. Observations on the stomach Contents of a road-killed perentie, Varanus giganteus in Western Queensland. Biawak 1 (1): 21-23 - 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 Mertens, R. 1942. Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae), 3. Teil: Taxonomie. Abh. Senckenb. naturf. Ges., 466: 235-391 Mertens, R. 1958. Bemerkungen über die Warane Australiens. Senckenbergiana biologica 39: 229-264 Moroa, Dorian & Isobel MacAulaya 2014. Computer-Aided Pattern Recognition of Large Reptiles as a Noninvasive Application to Identify Individuals. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science<br>17 (2): 125-135; DOI:10.1080/10888705.2014.883925 - get paper here PACKARD, GARY C. and THOMAS J. BOARDMAN 2009. Bias in interspeciﬁc allometry: examples from morphological scaling in varanid lizards. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96, 296–305. - 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 Pianka, E.R. 2003. Australian Desert Varanids. Reptilia (GB) (30): 20-26 - get paper here Pianka, E.R. 2003. Die Warane der australischen Wüste. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (43): 29-35 - get paper here Rhind, D; Doody, J S; Clulow, S; Godwin, C; Bartek, B & Murray, C; 2019. Varanus giganteus (Perentie) Diet. Herpetological Review 50 (2): 382 - 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 Strimple, Peter D.;Strimple, Jane L. 1996. Australia's largest goanna: the perentie. Reptiles 4 (2): 76-87 Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.kingsnake.com/oz/lizards/monitors/monitors.htm http://www.amonline.net.au/herpetology/research/pdf/varanidae.pdf http://monitor-lizards.net/species/index.html http://www.reptilespark.com/home/varanus/x.htm file:////Users/uetz/lab/grants/NSF reptile database/figures from Shai… http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Varanidae/Varanus/giganteus Google images

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