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Varanus panoptes STORR, 1980

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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) 
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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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