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Varanus doreanus (MEYER, 1874)

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Higher TaxaVaranidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Bluetail Monitor 
SynonymMonitor doreanus MEYER 1874: 130
Varanus kalabeck — PETERS & DORIA 1878: 330
Varanus kalabeck — BOULENGER 1885: 316
Varanus kalabeck — DE ROOIJ 1915: 148
Varanus indicus kalabeck — MERTENS 1942: 270
Varanus doreanus doreanus — BÖHME 1994: 134
Varanus doreanus doreanus — DE LISLE 1996: 121
Varanus indicus kalabeck — AVALOS & MARTINEZ CARRION 1997
Varanus doreanus — AST 2001
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) doreanus — ZIEGLER et al. 2007
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) doreanus — KOCH et al. 2013
Varanus doreanus — COGGER 2014: 768
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) doreanus — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) doreanus — WEIJOLA & KRAUS 2023 
DistributionNew Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, Australia (Queensland: Cape York peninsula)

Type locality: Doreh, Berou peninsula, northwestern New Guinea.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesNeotype: ZFMK 52922, formlery Holotype at MTD, but destroyed during WWII according to GOOD et al. 1993 (who cited it as MKTD); holotype erroneously given as ZMB by Cogger et al. 1983. 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3253 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVaranus doreanus finschi BÖHME, HORN & ZIEGLER 1994 has been elevated to full species status. BÖHME lists kalabeck only as a synonym of V. indicus, not of V. doreanus.

Distribution: The records from Queensland are still a bit contentious and may be based on confusion with V. finschi).

Similar species: Varanus finschi 
EtymologyPresumably named after the type locality, Dorey Harbour on the Doberoi Peninsula of New Guinea. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Ast, Jennifer C. 2001. Mitochondrial DNA Evidence and Evolution in Varanoidea (Squamata). Cladistics 17 (3): 211-226 [erratum in 18 (1):125] - get paper here
  • Ávalos, J. de & Martínez Carrión, P. 1997. Warane. Reptilia (Münster) 2 (5): 16-21 - get paper here
  • Böhme, Wolfgang 2014. Herpetology in Bonn. Mertensiella 21. vi + 256 pp. - get paper here
  • Böhme,W., H. G. HORN & T. ZIEGLER 1994. Zur Taxonomie der Pazifikwarane (Varanus-indicus-Komplex): Revalidierung von Varanus doreanus (A. B. MEYER, 1874) mit Beschreibung einer neuen Unterart. Salamandra 30 (2): 119-142 - 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
  • 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
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • de Rooij, N. de 1915. The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. I. Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. Leiden (E. J. Brill), xiv + 384 pp. - get paper here
  • Good, David A.; Bauer, Aaron M.;Günther, Rainer 1993. An Annotated Type Catalogue of the Anguimorph Lizards (Squamata: Anguidae, Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Xenosauridae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 69 (1): 45-56 - 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, Z.; Philipp, K. & Ziegler, T. 2010. The Monitor Man: A Story of Stunning Discoveries and Charismatic Creatures. Biawak 4 (4): 132-152 - get paper here
  • Lesson, R.P. 1830. Description de quelques reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus. In: M.L.I. Duperrey, Voyage Autour du Monde Execute par Ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de La Majeste, La Coquille, Pendant les Annees 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825. 2. Zoologie Tome 2, Partie 1. Arthur Bertrand, Paris: 1-65 [published 1829 fide Ivan Ineich] - get paper here
  • Lisle, H.F. de 1996. Natural History of Monitor Lizards. Krieger, Malabar (Florida)
  • Mertens, R. 1942. Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae), 3. Teil: Taxonomie. Abh. Senckenb. naturf. Ges., 466: 235-391
  • Meyer, A.B. 1874. Eine Mittheilung von Hern. Dr. Adolf Berhard Meyer über die von ihm auf Neu-Guinea und den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahre 1873 gesammelten Amphibien. Monatsber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1874: 128-140 [also published as a separate print with pages 1-17 with a different title in which “Hern. Dr. Adolf Berhard Meyer über die von ihm” is replaced by “mir”] - get paper here
  • Natusch Daniel J.D. & Jessica A. Lyons 2017. Notes on the Natural History of Blue-tailed Monitors (Varanus doreanus) in Australia. Biawak 11 (1): 8-14 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig and G. Doria. 1878. Catalogo dei retilli e dei batraci raccolti da O. Beccari, L. M. D'Alberts e A. A. Bruijn. nella sotto-regione Austro-Malese. Annali del Museo Civico de Storia Naturale di Genova. ser. 1, 13: 323-450 - get paper here
  • Philipp,K.M.; Ziegler, T. & Böhme, W. 2007. Preliminary Investigations of the Natural Diet of Six Monitor Lizard Species of the Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) indicus Group. Mertensiella 16: 336-345
  • Pianka, E. R. and D. R. King, eds. 2004. Varanoid Lizards of the World. Indiana University Press, 599 pp - get paper here
  • Pianka, Eric R. 2012. Can humans share spaceship earth? Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 6 (1): 1-24 - get paper here
  • Weijola V, Donnellan SC, Lindqvist C 2016. A new blue-tailed Monitor lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanus indicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys 568: 129-154, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.568.6872 - 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
  • Weijola, Valter; Varpu Vahtera, Christer Lindqvist, Fred Kraus 2019. A molecular phylogeny for the Pacific monitor lizards (Varanus subgenus Euprepiosaurus) reveals a recent and rapid radiation with high levels of cryptic diversity. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 186 (4): 1053–1066 - get paper here
  • 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, T.; Böhme, W.; Eidenmüller, B. & Philipp, K. 2001. A note on the coexistence of three species of Pacific monitor lizards in Australia (Sauria, Varanidae, Varanus indicus group). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 50 (1-2): 27-30 - get paper here
  • ZIEGLER, THOMAS & MINH D. LE 2018. New Records of the Blue-tailed Monitor, Varanus doreanus (Meyer, 1874), Including a Maximum Size Record. Biawak 12 (1): - 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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