Genus Varanus Merrem, 1820

Museums

Regional Maps

• Varanus Merrem, B. 1820. Versuch eines Systems Amphibien. Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum. Marburg : Krieger xv 199 pp. [58].

  Type species:

   Lacerta varia White, 1790 by subsequent designation, see Gray, J.E. 1827. A synopsis of the genera of saurian reptiles, in which some new genera are indicated, and the others reviewed by actual examination. Philosophical Magazine London 2: 54-58.
• Varanus Rafinesque, C.S. 1815. Analyse de la nature, ou tableau de l'univers et des corps organises. Palermo (Italy) : Privately Published 224 pp. [Date published April to July] [75] [nom. nud.].
• Odatria Gray, J.E. 1838. A catalogue of the slender-tongued saurians, with descriptions of many new genera and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1: 388-394 [394].

  Type species:

   Odatria punctata Gray, 1838 by monotypy.
• Cylindrurus Fitzinger, L.J. 1843. Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus Primus. Amblyglossae. Vienna : Braümüller et Seidel i-vi, 106 pp. [19] [described as subgenus of Hydrosaurus Wagler, 1830].

  Type species:

   Odatria punctata Gray, 1838 by original designation.
• Pantherosaurus Fitzinger, L.J. 1843. Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus Primus. Amblyglossae. Vienna : Braümüller et Seidel i-vi, 106 pp. [19].

  Type species:

   Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 by original designation.
• Agalmatosaurus Fitzinger, L.J. 1843. Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus Primus. Amblyglossae. Vienna : Braümüller et Seidel i-vi, 106 pp. [19] [introduced as a subgenus of Euprepiosaurus Fitzinger, 1843].

  Type species:

   Varanus timoriensis Duméril & Bibron, 1836 by original designation.
• Euprepiosaurus Fitzinger, L.J. 1843. Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus Primus. Amblyglossae. Vienna : Braümüller et Seidel i-vi, 106 pp. [19].

  Type species:

   Varanus chlorostigma Duméril & Bibron, 1836 by original designation.
• Titanzius Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [22].

  Type species:

   Hydrosaurus giganteus Gray, 1845 by original designation.
• Aspetosaurus Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [20].

  Type species:

   Varanus spenceri Lucas & Frost, 1903 by original designation.
• Worrellisaurus Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1984. A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1(3-4): 73-129 [1983 on title page] [84].

  Type species:

   Varanus acanthurus Boulenger, 1885 by original designation.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Mertens, R. 1963. Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Lanthanotidae. Das Tierreich 79: i-x 1-26
• Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [126]

 

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

VARANIDAE: Varanus finschi Böhme, Horn & Ziegler, 1994 [records of this species from Australia are uncertain and we follow Weijola et al. (2016) in treating the species as absent from Australia until further work can verify its presence] — Weijola, V., Donnellan, S. & Lindqvist, C. 2016. A new blue-tailed Monitor lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanus indicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys 568: 129-154 [148]

VARANIDAE: Varanus indicus (Daudin, 1802) [following neotype designation for Tupinambis indicus Daudin, 1802 the species is restricted to the Mollucan Islands, Indonesia, with Varanus chlorostigma (Gray, 1831) selected as the most appropriate name for Australian populations of the Varanus "indicus" group. See Weijola (2015) for further details.] — Weijola, V. 2015. Case 3676 Tupinambis indicus Daudin, 1802 (currently Varanus indicus; Reptilia, Squamata): proposed conservation of usage of the specific name by replacement of the neotype. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 72(2): 134-141

VARANIDAE: Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768) — Cogger, H.G. 1979. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Sydney : A.H. & A.W. Reed 608 pp. (Australian record based on BMNH 78.1.31.14, purportedly from Somerset, QLD, cited in Boulenger (1885))

 

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Africa, S Asia, Indo-Australian Archipelago.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

Pilbara (PIL) ; ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Wet Tropics (WT) ; ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Vic: South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH) ; ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Sydney Basin (SB) ; ACT, NSW, SA, Vic, WA: Esperance Plains (ESP), Hampton (HAM), Kanmantoo (KAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), Warren (WAR) ; NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Yalgoo (YAL) ; NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU)

Other Regions

Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Original AFD Distribution Data

Afrotropical Region

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, N Gulf, N coastal, W plateau
  • Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal, W plateau
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Solomon Islands

General References

Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). 2. London : British Museum xiii 497 pp. 24 pls.

Maryan, B., Oliver, P.M., Fitch, A.J. & O'Connell, M. 2014. Molecular and morphological assessment of Varanus pilbarensis (Squamata: Varanidae), with a description of a new species from the southern Pilbara, Western Australia. Zootaxa 3768(2): 139–158 [144] (diagnosis)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
07-Feb-2024	SQUAMATA	07-Feb-2024	MODIFIED
07-Feb-2024	LACERTILIA	06-Dec-2023	MODIFIED
05-Jan-2015	Varanus Merrem, 1820	07-Feb-2024	MODIFIED
07-Feb-2024	LACERTILIA	07-Feb-2024	MODIFIED	Dr Federica Turco (QM)
07-Feb-2024	VARANIDAE	07-Feb-2024	MODIFIED
07-Feb-2024		07-Feb-2024	MODIFIED
08-Mar-2011		07-Feb-2024	MODIFIED
		07-Feb-2024	MODIFIED