Varanoid Lizards of the World

The large and impressive monitor lizard (genus Varanus) has attracted a great deal of interest. Despite being wary and difficult to observe, monitors have received an extraordinary amount of attention from devoted students. Varanoid Lizards of the World is a comprehensive account of virtually everything important that is known about monitor lizards, beginning with detailed species accounts and proceeding to various modern comparative analyses. Where possible, people who have had detailed field experience with a particular species have assembled the species accounts. In the process of reporting what is known, the book also identifies what remains to be learned about these lizards. This volume stands as a model for showing how such a diverse monophyletic group can be exploited both to identify and to understand the actual course of evolution.

ERIC R. PIANKA, a world-renowned ecologist, has spent his life studying the evolutionary ecology of the second-largest group of terrestrial vertebrates, lizards. Pianka is the Denton A. Cooley Centennial Professor of Zoology at the University of Texas at Austin. His past and present research covers a broad range of topics pertaining to the ecology, biology, and evolution of reptiles. His text Evolutionary Ecology, first published in 1974, went through six editions and has been translated into many languages.

DENNIS R. KING (1942-2002) was one of the world's leading experts on lizards. For many years before his death, he was employed as Research Officer, Agriculture Protection Board of Western Australia. King is author of more than 100 papers on Australian varanids, mammals, and conservation, among other topics.

List of Contributors	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii

Introduction	p. 3
The Long and Honorable History of Monitors and Their Kin	p. 10
Biogeography and Phylogeny of Varanoids	p. 68
Tempo and Timing of the Australian Varanus Radiation	p. 77
Introduction to Part II: Species Accounts
African Varanid Species
Varanus albigularis	p. 91
Varanus exanthematicus	p. 95
Varanus griseus	p. 104
Varanus niloticus	p. 133
Varanus ornatus	p. 139
Varanus yemenensis	p. 143
Asian Varanid Species
Varanus bengalensis	p. 157
Varanus caerulivirens	p. 161
Varanus cerambonensis	p. 165
Varanus doreanus	p. 168
Varanus dumerilii	p. 172
Varanus finschi	p. 176
Varanus flavescens	p. 179
Varanus indicus	p. 184
Varanus jobiensis	p. 189
Varanus juxtindicus	p. 193
Varanus komodoensis	p. 197
Varanus kordensis	p. 205
Varanus mabitang	p. 208
Varanus macraei	p. 212
Varanus melinus	p. 215
Varanus olivaceus	p. 220
Varanus prasinus	p. 225
Varanus rudicollis	p. 230
Varanus salvadorii	p. 234
Varanus salvator (Nominate Form)	p. 244
Varanus salvator (Subspecies)	p. 258
Varanus spinulosus	p. 272
Varanus timorensis	p. 275
Varanus yuwonoi	p. 279
Australian Varanid Species
Varanus acanthurus	p. 298
Varanus baritji	p. 308
Varanus brevicauda	p. 312
Varanus caudolineatus	p. 318
Varanus eremius	p. 328
Varanus giganteus	p. 335
Varanus gilleni	p. 355
Varanus glauerti	p. 366
Varanus glebopalma	p. 373
Varanus gouldii	p. 380
Varanus keithhornei	p. 401
Varanus kingorum	p. 406
Varanus mertensi	p. 410
Varanus mitchelli	p. 416
Varanus panoptes	p. 423
Varanus pilbarensis	p. 430
Varanus primordius	p. 434
Varanus rosenbergi	p. 438
Varanus scalaris	p. 451
Varanus semiremex	p. 462
Varanus spenceri	p. 466
Varanus storri	p. 472
Varanus tristis	p. 477
Varanus varius	p. 488
Other Varanoids
Overview of the Family Helodermatidae for Varanophiles	p. 517
Heloderma horridum	p. 521
Heloderma suspectum	p. 528
Lanthanotus borneensis	p. 535
Estesia mongoliensis	p. 539

Evolution of Body Size and Reproductive Tactics	p. 549
Keeping Monitors in Captivity: A Biological, Technical, and Legislative Problem	p. 556
Glossary	p. 571
Index	p. 577
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Varanoid Lizards of the World

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