monitor lizard (redirected from Varanidae)

monitor lizard

Any of about 30 species of lizards (genus Varanus, family Varanidae), found in the Old World tropics and subtropics. Most have an elongated head and neck, a heavy body, a long tail, and well-developed legs. The smallest monitor grows to 8 in. (20 cm), but several species (e.g., the Komodo dragon) are very large. The two-banded, or water, monitor (V. salvator), of South Asia, grows to 9 ft (2.7 m). The perenty (V. giganteus), of Australia, grows to 8 ft (2.4 m). The so-called earless monitor (Lanthanotus borneensis), a rare lizard of Borneo and the only species of the family Lanthanotidae, grows to 16 in. (40 cm) long.