page_title: Monitor lizard
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Monitor lizard / Classification
caption_attribution_description: English: Varanus doreanus, the Blue-tailed monitor
context_page_description: Monitor lizards are large lizards in the genus Varanus. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, but are now found also in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recognized.
  Monitor lizards have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. The adult length of extant species ranges from 20 cm in some species, to over 3 m in the case of the Komodo dragon, though the extinct varanid known as Megalania may have been capable of reaching lengths more than 7 m. Most monitor species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semiaquatic monitors are also known. While most monitor lizards are carnivorous, eating eggs, smaller reptiles, fish, birds, insects, and small mammals, some also eat fruit and vegetation, depending on where they live.
context_section_description: Genus Varanus
  Species marked with † are extinct
  †V. hoffmani?
  †V. mokrensis
  †V. rusingensis
  Subgenus Empagusia:
  V. bengalensis, Bengal monitor
  V. dumerilii, Dumeril's monitor, brown roughneck monitor
  V. flavescens, golden monitor, yellow monitor, short-toed monitor
  V. nebulosus, clouded monitor
  V. rudicollis, black roughneck monitor
  Subgenus Euprepiosaurus:
  V. bennetti, Bennett's long-tailed monitor
  V. caerulivirens, turquoise monitor
  V. cerambonensis, Ceram monitor
  V. colei Kei Islands monitor
  V. doreanus, blue-tailed monitor
  V. douarrha,  New Ireland monitor
  V. finschi, Finsch's monitor
  V. indicus, mangrove monitor
  V. jobiensis, peach-throated monitor
  V. juxtindicus, Rennell Island monitor
  V. melinus, quince monitor
  V. lirungensis, Talaud mangrove monitor
  V. obor, sago monitor
  V. rainerguentheri Rainer Günther’s monitor
  V. semotus, Mussau Island blue-tailed monitor
  V. tsukamotoi, Mariana monitor
  V. yuwonoi black-backed mangrove monitor, tricolor monitor
  V. zugorum, silver monitor, Zug's monitor
  Subgenus Hapturosaurus
  V. beccarii, black tree monitor
  V. boehmei, golden-spotted tree monitor
  V. bogerti, Bogert's monitor
  V. keithhornei, canopy goanna, blue-nosed tree monitor, Nesbit River monitor
  V. kordensis, Biak tree monitor
  V. macraei, blue-spotted tree monitor
  V. prasinus, emerald tree monitor
  V. reisingeri  yellow tree monitor
  V. telenesetes, mysterious tree monitor, Rossell tree monitor
  Subgenus Odatria:
  V. acanthurus, ridge-tailed monitor, ackie monitor
  V. a. acanthurus, ridge-tailed monitor
  V. a. brachyurus, common ridge-tailed monitor
  V. a. insulanicus, island ridge-tailed monitor
  V. auffenbergi, Auffenberg's monitor, peacock monitor
  V. baritji, White's dwarf monitor, black-spotted ridge-tailed monitor, lemon-throated monitor
  V. brevicauda, short-tailed monitor
  V. bushi, Pilbara stripe-tailed monitor, Bush's monitor
  V. caudolineatus, stripe-tailed monitor
  V. eremius, rusty desert monitor, pygmy desert monitor
  V. gilleni, pygmy mulga monitor
  V. glauerti, Kimberley rock monitor
  V. glebopalma, twilight monitor, black-palmed rock monitor
  V. hamersleyensis, Hamersley Range rock monitor
  V. kingorum, Kings' rock monitor
  V. mitchelli, Mitchell's water monitor
  V. pilbarensis, Pilbara rock monitor
  V. primordius Northern ridge-tailed monitor
  V. scalaris, Banded tree monitor
  V. semiremex rusty monitor
  V. similis, Similis monitor, Spotted tree monitor
  V. sparnus, Dampier Peninsula monitor
  V. storri, Storr's monitor
  V. s. storri, eastern Storr's monitor
  V. s. ocreatus, western Storr's monitor
  V. timorensis, Timor monitor
  V. tristis
  V. t. tristis, black-headed monitor
  V. t. orientalis, freckled monitor
  Subgenus Papusaurus
  V. salvadorii, crocodile monitor
  Subgenus Philippinosaurus:
  V. bitatawa, Northern Sierra Madre forest monitor, butikaw, bitatawa
  V. mabitang, Panay monitor, mabitang
  V. olivaceus, Gray's monitor, butaan
  Subgenus Polydaedalus:
  V. albigularis, rock monitor, white-throated monitor
  V. a. albigularis, white-throated monitor
  V. a. angolensis, Angolan monitor
  V. a. microstictus, black-throated monitor
  V. exanthematicus, savannah monitor, Bosc's monitor
  V. niloticus, Nile monitor
  V. stellatus, West African Nile monitor
  V. ornatus, Ornate monitor
  V. yemenensis, Yemen monitor
  Subgenus Psammosaurus:
  V. griseus, desert monitor
  V. g. griseus, desert monitor, grey monitor
  V. g. caspius, Caspian monitor
  V. g. koniecznyi, Indian desert monitor, Thar desert monitor
  V. nesterovi, Nesterov’s desert monitor
  Subgenus Solomonsaurus:
  V. spinulosus, Spiny-necked mangrove monitor, Solomon Islands spiny monitor
  Subgenus Soterosaurus:
  V. bangonorum, Bangon monitor lizard
  V. cumingi, Cuming's water monitor, yellow-headed water monitor
  V. dalubhasa, Enteng’s monitor lizard
  V. marmoratus, marbled water monitor, Philippine water monitor
  V. nuchalis large-scaled water monitor
  V. palawanensis, Palawan water monitor
  V. rasmusseni Rasmussen's water monitor
  V. salvator, Asian water monitor
  V. s. salvator, Sri Lankan water monitor
  V. s. andamanensis, Andaman water monitor
  V. s. bivittatus, Two-striped water monitor, Javan water monitor
  V. s. macro
caption: Blue-tailed monitor (V. doreanus)
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