You are here » home › search results › Varanus panoptes

Varanus panoptes STORR, 1980

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Varanus panoptes?

Add your own observation of
Varanus panoptes »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaVaranidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesVaranus panoptes panoptes (STORR 1980)
Varanus panoptes horni BÖHME 1988
Varanus panoptes rubidus STORR 1980 
Common NamesE: Yellow-spotted Monitor
G: Arguswaran 
SynonymVaranus panoptes panoptes STORR 1980: 273
Varanus panoptes — COGGER 2000: 370
Varanus panoptes wanjarri — BENNET 2003 (see comment)
Varanus (Varanus) panoptes — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50

Varanus panoptes horni BÖHME 1988
Varanus panoptes horni BÖHME 1988: 87
Varanus gouldii horni — BÖHME 1991: 38
Varanus gouldii horni — DE LISLE 1996: 127
Varanus panoptes horni — BÖHME 2002
Varanus panoptes horni — AKERET 2006
Varanus panoptes horni — AKERET 2010
Varanus (Varanus) panoptes horni — KOCH et al. 2013

Varanus panoptes rubidus STORR 1980
Varanus panoptes rubidus STORR 1980: 276
Varanus gouldii rubidus — BÖHME 1991: 38
Varanus gouldii rubidus — DE LISLE 1996: 127
Varanus panoptes rubidus — COGGER 2000: 370
Varanus panoptes rubidus — DE LISLE 2009: 22 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, Western Australia),
Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea

horni: Southern part of New Guinea; Torres strait islands; Type locality: Merauke, Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

panoptes: Northern Territory and Queensland (Kimberleys); Type locality: Lake Argyle, Western Australia.

rubidus: arid western plateau of Western Australia, from the Pilbara south to Fields Find and Mt. Linden; also on Dolphin Island, Dampier archipelago. Type locality: Wilgie Mia, NNW of Cue, Western Australia.  
ReproductionThis species appears to be parthenogenetic. 
TypesHolotype: WAM R44792
Holotype: ZFMK 19290, Paratype: ZSM 1/1970, subadult male [horni]
Holotype: WAM R19132 [rubidus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (panoptes): A large ground monitor (up to 120 cm long) with strongly compressed tail. Generally similar to V. gouldii but differing in its strongly spotted dorsum (transverse rows of large dark spots alternating with rows of small pale spots), banded tail-tip, small dark ventral spots aligned with large dark spots of back and flanks, more numerous midbody scale rows, and smaller interorbital scales. Differing from V. p. rubidus mainly in its brown rather than reddish dorsal ground colour. (Storr 1980)


Additional details (4043 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentTypes: The present lectotype of V. gouldii is a specimen of V. panoptes (see entry for V. gouldii), formally rendering the name panoptes a junior synonym of gouldii (Sprackland et al. 1997).

Nomenclature: Varanus panoptes wanjarri was illustrated by BENNET 2003, but this is not a valid trinomen, but rather a place atribution: Wanjarri is a place in Australia. 
EtymologyNamed after Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed guardian of Princess Io.
V. p. horni was named after Hans-Georg Horn (1935-2019), German chemist and herpetologist.
V. p. rubidus was named after its reddish color (which is brownish in V. p. panoptes). 
References
  • AIYER, ABHILASHA; BUNUBA RANGERS, TINA BELL, RICHARD SHINE, RUCHIRA SOMAWEERA, MILES BRUNY & GEORGIA WARD‐FEAR. 2022. Taking the bait: Developing a bait delivery system to target free‐ranging crocodiles and varanid lizards with a novel conservation strategy. Ecology and Evolution 12(6): 1–11. - get paper here
  • Akeret, B. 2006. Bau einer Großterrarienanlage für Warane und Hornvipern. Draco 7 (26): 38- - get paper here
  • Akeret, B. 2010. Terrarienpflanzen. Draco 11 (41): 4-21 - get paper here
  • Anonymous 2000. Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 (currently Varanus gouldii) and Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980 (Reptilia, Squamata): specific names conserved by the designation of a neotype for H. gouldii. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 57 (1): 63-65 - get paper here
  • Bennet, D.F. 2003. Australische Warane. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (43): 18-25 - get paper here
  • Bennet, D.F. 2003. The Varanus gouldii group. Reptilia (GB) (30): 27-29 - get paper here
  • Bennet, D.F. 2003. Australian Monitors. Reptilia (GB) (30): 12-19 - get paper here
  • Bennet, D.F. 2003. Der Varanus-gouldii-Komplex. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (43): 26-28 - get paper here
  • Blamires, S.J. 2004. Habitat Preferences of Coastal Goannas (Varanus panoptes): Are They Exploiters of Sea Turtle Nests at Fog Bay, Australia? Copeia 2004 (2): 370-377. - get paper here
  • Böhme, W. 1988. Der Arguswaran (Varanus panoptes, Storr 1980) auf Neuguinea: Varanus panoptes horni spp. n. Salamandra 24 (2-3): 87-101 - get paper here
  • Böhme, Wolfgang 2014. Herpetology in Bonn. Mertensiella 21. vi + 256 pp. - 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
  • Böhme,W. & T. ZIEGLER 1998. Comments on the proposed conservation of the names Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 and Varanus panoptes STORR, 1980 (Reptilia, Squamata) by the designation of a neotype for Hydrosaurus gouldii (Case 3042; see BZN 54: 95-99, 249-250; 55: 106-111). Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 55 (3): 173-174. - 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.
  • Doody, J. S., Hall, M. L., Rhind, D., Green, B. & Dryden, G. 2012. Varanus panoptes (yellow-spotted monitor) diet. Herpetological Review 43: 491-492 - get paper here
  • Doody, J. S., Lloyd, R. & Rhind, D. 2012. Varanus panoptes (yellow-spotted monitor) diet and prey capture. Herpetological Review 43: 339-340 - get paper here
  • Doody, J. Sean, Colin McHenry, Stephen Mahony, Sally Taylor and Simon Clulow. 2015. Varanus panoptes (yellow-spotted monitor) diet. Herpetological Review 46 (2): 263-264 - get paper here
  • Doody, J. Sean, Graeme Sawyer and Kim Hands. 2015. Varanus panoptes (yellow-spotted monitor) diet and foraging behavior. Herpetological Review 46 (1): 95-96 - get paper here
  • Doody, J. Sean, Hugh James, Christopher W. Walmsley, David Rhind, Matt Edgar, Maik Fidel, Domenic D'Amore, Simon Clulow and Colin McHenry. 2015. Varanus panoptes (yellow-spotted monitor) toxic prey avoidance. Herpetological Review 46 (1): 96-97 - get paper here
  • Doody, J. Sean; Colin R. McHenry, Louise Durkin, Mike Brown, Angela Simms, Lizzy Coleman, Charlotte Phizacklea, Hayes Jones, Oliver Phizacklea, and Simon Clulow 2018. Deep Communal Nesting by Yellow-Spotted Monitors in a Desert Ecosystem: Indirect Evidence for a Response to Extreme Dry Conditions. Herpetologica 74 (4): 306-310. - get paper here
  • Doody, J. Sean; Hugh James, Ryan Ellis, Nick Gibson, Mitchell Raven, Stephen Mahony, David G. Hamilton, David Rhind, Simon Clulow, and Colin R. McHenry 2014. Cryptic and Complex Nesting in the Yellow-Spotted Monitor, Varanus panoptes. Journal of Herpetology Sep 2014, Vol. 48, No. 3: 363-370. - get paper here
  • Ellis, R.J. 2018. An annotated type catalogue of varanid lizards (Reptilia: Squamata: Varanidae) in the collection of the Western Australian Museum. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 33:187-194, DOI: 10.18195/issn.0312-3162.33(2).2018.187-194 - 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
  • Horn, H.-G. 2005. Bufo marinus oder die fatalen Folgen einer Faunenverfälschung. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (55): 56-59 - get paper here
  • Hoser, Raymond T. 1998. Comment on the proposed alterations to usage of the name Varanus gouldii, resurrection of the junior synonym Varanus panoptes and proposed suppression of Varanus flavirufus. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 55: 111-114 - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • Lei, J. and Booth, D. T. 2018. Fine scale analysis of intraspecific and interspecific interactions in two varanid lizard populations adjacent to a sea turtle nesting beach. Austral Ecology. doi:10.1111/aec.12646 - get paper here
  • Lenk, P.; Eidenmueller, B.; Staudter, H.; Wicker, R.; Wink, M. 2005. A parthenogenetic Varanus. Amphibia-Reptilia 26 (4): 507-514 - 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Rhind, David, Graeme Sawyer, Dane Trembath, Marissa Parrott and J. Sean Doody. 2014. Varanus panoptes (yellow-spotted monitor) diet and behavior. Herpetological Review 45 (2): 335-336 - get paper here
  • Rhind, David, J. Sean Doody, Rachel Pritchard and Colin McHenry. 2013. Varanus panoptes (yellow-spotted monitor) cannibalism. Herpetological Review 44 (3): 516-517 - get paper here
  • Schardt , M. 2000. Aktuelle Übersicht zur Nomenklatur der australischen "Gouldswarane" sowie Angaben zur Haltung und Nachzucht von Varanus panoptes panoptes Storr, 1980. Herpetofauna 22 (129): 22-32 - get paper here
  • Schildger, B.-J. & M. Kramer & H. Spörle & M. Gerwing & R. Wicker 1993. Vergleichende bildgebende Ovardiagnostik bei Echsen am Beispiel des Chuckwallas (Sauromalus obesus) und des Arguswarans (Varanus panoptes). Salamandra 29 (3-4): 240-247 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, D. 2010. Naturterrarium oder Heimtierkäfig? Reptilia (Münster) 15 (84): 24-33 - get paper here
  • Sprackland R G.; Smith H M. & Strimple P D. 1997. Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 (currently Varanus gouldii) and Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980 (Reptilia, Squamata): Proposed conservation of the specific names by the designation of a neotype for H. gouldii. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 54 (2): 95-99 - 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
  • Wiechmann, R 2012. Observations on Parthenogenesis in Monitor Lizards. Biawak 6 (1): 11 - get paper here
  • Wiechmann, R. 2011. Eigene Beobachtungen zur Parthenogenese bei Waranen. Elaphe 19 (1): 55-61
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Varanus&species=panoptes

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator