| Higher Taxa | Varanidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Varanus rainerguentheri ZIEGLER, BÖHME & SCHMITZ 2007
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) rainerguentheri — KOCH et al. 2010
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) rainerguentheri — KOCH et al. 2013
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) rainerguentheri — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) rainerguentheri — WEIJOLA & KRAUS 2023 |
| Distribution | Indonesia (Halmahera, Moluccas, incl. Morotai, Bacan, Buru)
Type locality: Halmahera, Moluccas, Indonesia
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| Reproduction | oviparous, parthenogenetic species |
| Types | Holotype: ZFMK 85404; Paratype: USNM, juvenile |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: The new species is characterized by the following combination of characters: habitus relatively stoutly built, without swollen parietal region, but with relatively blunt snout tip in the larger specimen; dorsum greyish, with transversal rows of blackish ocelli with yellow centres; blackish temporal band, framed below by a light stripe; ventral side cream to greyish, with a dark network or transversal stripe pattern, but with light centre of throat; tongue pink-coloured, with greyish tips and bifurcation area as well as a longitudinal dark pigmented middle stripe running above and below the first half of the tongue; tail with transversal ocellate pattern; tail shape roundish only in its first eighth to tenth, then with well differentiated double keel on dorsal ridge; 138-139 midbody scale rows; 130-136 transverse rows of dorsal scales from hind margin of tympanum to beginning of hind legs; hemipenis with asymmetrical sulcus spermaticus, and paryphasma rows that stretch only towards the outer lobe.
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| Comment | Similar species: V. indicus.
Sympatry: V. cerambonensis (on Buru)
Distribution: see map in Somma & Koch 2012. Weijola and Sweet (2015) argue that the species on Ambon, Seram, Buru, and Saparua is all V. indicus). See map in Weijola & Kraus 2023: 948 (Fig. 1). |
| Etymology | The specific epithet is a patronym in genitive singular. The new species is dedicated to Dr. Rainer Günther, Curator of herpetology at the Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin to acknowledge his long-term and outstanding taxonomic research on the herpetofauna of Indonesia (New Guinea) in particular and of South East Asia in general. See Barts (2006) and Lötters (2010) for a biographical sketch of R. Günther. |
| References |
- BARTS, M., F. TILLACK & H. WERNING 2006. Zum 65. Geburtstag von Dr. sc. Rainer GüNTHER, Kustos der herpetologischen Abteilung des Zoologischen Museums Berlin, mit Anmerkungen zur Geschichte der Abteilung. Sauria 28 (4): 45-46 - get paper here
- Böhme, Wolfgang 2014. Herpetology in Bonn. Mertensiella 21. vi + 256 pp. - get paper here
- Glässer-Trobisch, Andrea & Dietmar Trobisch 2021. Begegnungen mit Hydrosaurus & Co. in der Wallacea. Teil 3: Drachen im Vogelparadies – Halmahera. Sauria 43 (3): 23-46
- Grabbe, Julian 2014. Erster Nachweis von Parthenogenese bei Varanus rainerguentheri, einem Pazifikwaran aus der indicus-Gruppe. Terraria-Elaphe 2014 (6): 38-42 - 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, André; Mark Auliya & Thomas Ziegler 2010. Updated checklist of the living monitor lizards of the world (Squamata: Varanidae). Bonn Zool. Bull. 57 (2): 127–136 - get paper here
- Kwet, A. 2007. Varanus rainerguentheri - ein neuer Pazifikwaran Terraria (6) 2 (4): 32-33.
- Lötters, S. 2010. Was macht eigentlich ... Dr. Rainer Günther? Elaphe 18 (1): 102
- Setiadi, M. I. & A. Hamidy, 2006. Jenis-Jenis Herpetofauna di Pulau Halmahera. Kerjasama antara Pusat Studi Biodiversitas dan Konservasi Universitas Indonesia dan Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Puslit Biologi Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia. - get paper here
- Somma, M. & A. Koch 2012. New morphological and distributional data on Varanus rainerguentheri (Squamata: Varanidae), an endemic and little-known monitor lizard species of the Moluccas, Indonesia. Salamandra 48 (4): 207-212 - get paper here
- Weijola V, Sweet S. S. 2015. A single species of mangrove monitor (Varanus) occupies Ambon, Seram, Buru and Saparua, Moluccas, Indonesia. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 9 (1) [General Section]: 14–23 - get paper here
- Weijola, V.S.A. 2010. Geographical Distribution and Habitat Use of Monitor Lizards of the North Moluccas. Biawak 4 (1): 7-23 - 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
- ZIEGLER, THOMAS; ANNA RAUHAUS & IRI GILL 2016. A Preliminary Review of Monitor Lizards in Zoological Gardens. Biawak 10 (1): 26 - 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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