Monitor
lizards are the most impressive lizards in Australia.
They are
large, slow moving, quite easy to spot and beautiful to watch; they are
also called goannas,
and there are 24 species in Australia.
They have strong feet, long necks, slender heads, and forked tongues -
unlike all other lizards.
The largest in the world are komodo dragons, the largest in Australia
are perenties, our
largest one is lace monitor - the second largest goanna in
Australia.
Sand
Goanna Sand
goanna
is one of the most widespread and abundant of all Australian monitor
lizards.
It is a
fairly large lizard, and as opposed to many other
monitor lizards, it is ground dwelling (not found in trees).
It is only
found in south eastern parts of Cape York peninsula (Lakefield and
south).
by blundershot via
Flickr.com
Yellow
Spotted Monitor
Yellow
spotted monitor can look similar to sand goannas (except it has dark
bands on tail tip and bands of dark spots on belly), and it can also be
found in a similar habitat - on the ground and not in
trees.
In north
Queensland, it is found from Cairns
in the north roughly to Mackay in the south.
Spotted
Tree Monitor
Spotted
tree monitor lives up in trees. It has a dark, grey to black body, with
cream coloured spots, and the tail has a banded pattern. It lives in
open forests and rainforests in northern and eastern
Australia.
In Cape
York, it is found in Cedar
Bay National Park and Home Rule, south of Cooktown.
by Jurgen Otto via Flickr.com
Storr's
Monitor
Storr's
monitor has a reddish brown body with dark centered cream coloured
spots, and the pattern continues to the tail (no bands on
tail).
It
lives in rocky areas and open forest in a patchy distribution across
northern Australia. In the Cape York area it is found at Archer Point
and Lappa Junction.
Rusty
Monitor
Rusty
monitor also has a spotted body, but a pattern with bands across the
tail.
It is fairly
large and has a brownish grey to black body.
It
lives in coastal swamps and mangroves
in a patchy distribution between Cape York peninsula in the north and
Gladstone in the south.
by Bill Higham via
Flickr.com
Black
Tailed Monitor
Black
tailed monitor is one of Australia's larger monitor lizards, with a
dark, brown to black body with dark centered creamy spots on the head
and body, and narrow bands on the tail.
It is found
in most of
Australia except the south and south east. In the Cape York area, it is
found
south of Cooktown.
Lace
Monitor
And finally, the largest of them all in Cape York, and the second
largest in Australia (after perentie), lace
monitor
is an impressive two metres long lizard with a dotted body and banded
tail.
It lives in
closed and open forest and woodland in coastal
Australia, in Cape York it is found south of Cape Melville.
Sand
Goanna
Sand
goanna is a large, impressive lizard.
It is
actually not found in most parts of the Cape York peninsula,
only in the south east
- south of, and including Lakefield National Park, which - as opposed
to the northern parts of the peninsula - is a real hot spot for them.
It can look similar to lace monitor, and it is a kind of monitor lizard.
Goanna is the name often used to refer to Australian (and some Asian)
monitor lizards, of which there are about 25 (30 with the Asian)
species.
Taxonomy and Subspecies
There are
two subspecies of sand goanna: Gould's
GoannaVaranus
gouldii gouldii, and Desert Sand MonitorVaranus gouldii flavirufus. Goulds
monitor Varanus
gouldii gouldii near Jowalbinna. The first
lives largely in
northern and eastern Australia, while the latter lives in the arid
inland Australia.
The ranges of the two also overlap, and confuse, as the two are not
always so easy to distinguish from each other. Goulds
monitor Varanus
gouldii gouldii in Lakefield NP. Borth can
also, at first
glance, be confused with the lace
monitor.
However, there is a difference.
Lace monitor is arboreal
and will take off to the trees if disturbed.
Sand goanna is ground
dwelling and digs holes in the sand or soil, where it will seek
protection.
Gould's Monitor
Gould's monitorVaranus gouldii gouldii
is a fairly large lizard, at 1.4 metres in length in average, and a
weight of up tp 6kg.
Goulds monitor Varanus
gouldii gouldii.
It lives in grasslands and woodlands in the eastern and northern Australia,
and shelters in burrows, tree hollows and rock crevices.
It is believed to be the most abundant of all Australian monitor
lizards.
Desert Sand Goanna
Desert sand goannaVaranus gouldii
flavirufus, lives more in the central Australian
sandy deserts and the outback. Desert
sand
goanna Varanus gouldii
flavirufus.
Both are mainly diurnal
(active during the day time).
Both are carnivores,
thus predators, and they feed on rodents, large insects and other
reptiles.
Both also eat carrion as well as eggs of birds and other reptiles.
They lay eggs
in termite
mounds,
which they first dig a hole into, then let the termites to repair it,
leaving the eggs inside.
Once
the eggs are ready to hatch they return and dig
the mound open again. Juveniles
eat insects and small reptiles.
Lace
Monitor
Lace
monitor is one impressive lizard.
It is the largest goanna lizard in Cape
York
and the second largest in Australia (after perentie which we don't
have).
It is great to watch
as it
walks on the ground looking for food, but it spends most of the time up in the trees so
your chances to
see it up there are much better.
It is up to two metres
long,
has a distinctive colouring and a forked
tongue like a snake's. It is the only lizard to have
a
forked tongue. They are
found in eastern
Australia,
from Cape Bedford on Cape York
peninsula in the north, to eastern South Australia in the south.
It is dark grey or brown
with lighter, cream or
yellowish spots. Its
underside is pale.
The rarer, Bell's Form
(often
found in dryer habitat in Queensland and New South Wales) has large
brown and pinkish stripes across its body.
They all have strong
legs and claws
that are used for climbing in trees. A
wild
Lace Monitor with tongue out, Lake Placid,
Cairns.
They live
in
forests, open woodlands and coastal tablelands, where they forage on the ground and
seek safety and
shelter up in trees.
They hide from cool
weather in
tree hollows, under rocks and under fallen trees.
They can walk up to three
kilometres a day
while foraging.
They eat
insects, reptiles,
birds, eggs, small mammals, and carrions.
They also come to people's homes and farms and eat garbage, chicken
eggs and chicks, and whatever else they can get hold on.
They attack marine turtle and bush
turkey
nests to eat their eggs. They are active during the
warmer months of
the year, and their breeding
season is the build-up season and early Wet - the hottest time of the
year.
They lay their eggs
in termite mounds, where they make a hole
for the eggs and then leave the hole for termites to repair.
That will keep the eggs warm and safe until the female goes back and digs them
out again
once the eggs are ready to hatch. Lace monitors are harmless
however
they can bite and some studies have even shown that they may have some
poison.
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This site uses British
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Disclaimer:
Although
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website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.