4 o6 



REPTTLIAORDER III.SQ.UAMATA. 



Monitors.- 



Family 

 Varanidce. 



total length being about twenty inches. Both have the head broad and de- 

 pressed, the body rounded and thick, the tail moderately long and cylindrical, 

 and the limbs relatively small, with the third and fourth toes the longest. 

 The poisonous lizards are sluggish and nocturnal, inhabiting sandy districts, 

 with the soil of which their coloration is in admirable harmony. They are 

 most commonly seen abroad in the rainy season, and are carnivorous in their 

 diet. Small mammals are speedily killed by their bite, which is stated 

 occasionally to have fatal effects on human beings. 



A third family of the sub-order with only a single genus, is that of 

 the monitors; the -range of the numerous species extending from the 

 Caspian through Southern Asia to Australasia, and likewise 

 embracing all Africa, as well as the Pacific Islands. They are 

 all of large size, one measuring between six and seven feet 

 in length. As compared with the preceding families, their 

 essential characteristic is to be found in the snake-like struc- 

 ture of the tongue, which is long, deeply forked at the tip, extensile, and 

 capable of being withdrawn into a sheath at the base. They all have well- 

 developed, five-toed limbs, a long and often compressed tail, small scales on 

 the head, and the drum of the ear exposed. Owing to the presence of mar- 

 ginal rows of granules, the scales on the back do not overlap, and in no case 

 is there a median longitudinal crest in this region. The different species of 

 Varanus may be arranged in four groups, the distinctive features of which need 

 not be noticed here. They are generally found in the neighbourhood of water, 



and one Indian species frequents 

 the coast, and will at times enter 

 the sea. In habits, they are purely 

 carnivorous ; and, with the possible 

 exception of the Papuan species, 

 they are also terrestrial. They are 

 among the most active of the lizard 

 tribe, and although generally harm- 

 less and avoiding attack, it would ap- 

 pear from the folio wing account that, 

 when driven to bay, they will turn 

 on their aggressors. Of the Nile 

 monitor (V. niloticus\ Dr. Abel 

 Smith writes that " it is usually met 

 with in rocky precipices, or in low 

 stony hills, and, when surprised, 



Fig. 18 A MONITOR (Varanus). 



seeks concealment in the chinks of the former or in the irregular cavities of 

 the latter, and when any projections exist upon the surface of the rocks or 

 stones, it clasps them so firmly with its toes, that it becomes a task of no 

 small difficulty to dislodge it, even though it can be easily reached. Under 

 such circumstances, the strength of no one man is able to withdraw a full- 

 grown individual, and I have seen two persons required to pull a specimen out 

 of a position it had attained, even with the assistance of a rope fixed in front 

 of its hind-legs. The moment it was dislodged it flew with fury at its 

 enemies, who by flight only saved themselves from being bitten. After it 

 was killed it was discovered that the points of all the nails had been broken 

 previously, or at the moment it lost its hold. It feeds upon frogs, crabs, and 

 small quadrupeds ; and, from its partiality to the two former, it is often 

 found among rocks near to springs or running streams, which fact having 



