Species Varanus gouldii (Gray, 1838)

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CAVS: 2271

Species Varanus gouldii (Gray, 1838)

Gould's Goanna, Sand Monitor

Hydrosaurus gouldii 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 data:
Neotype BMNH 1997.1, Karrakatta, Perth, WA.
Subsequent designation references:
ICZN 2000. Opinion 1948: Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 (currently Varanus gouldii) and Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980 (Reptilia, Squamata): specific names conserved by the designation of a neotype for H. gouldii. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 57(1): 63-65 [63].
Hydrosaurus ocellarius Blyth, E. 1878. Hydrosaurus ocellarius, In Theobald, W. Bulletin du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle du Belgique 47(extra number): 21 [21] [nomen oblitum. Regarded as a nom. dub. by Mertens, R. 1963. Placed on ICZN Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Names, see ICZN (2000)].
Type data:
Status unknown, Australia.
Secondary source:
Mertens, R. 1963. Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Lanthanotidae. Das Tierreich 79: i-x 1-26; ICZN 2000. Opinion 1948: Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 (currently Varanus gouldii) and Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980 (Reptilia, Squamata): specific names conserved by the designation of a neotype for H. gouldii. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 57(1): 63-65 [63].
Varanus gouldiae Berney, F.L. 1936. Gould's monitor (Varanus gouldiae). Queensland Naturalist 10: 12-14 [12] [errore for Varanus gouldii (Gray, 1838)].
Tupinambis endrachtensis Péron, F. 1807. Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes, Fait par Ordre du Gouvernement, sur les Corvettes le Géographique, le Naturaliste, et la goëlette le Casuarina, pendant les années 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804. Historique. Paris : Arthus Bertrand Vol. 1. [nomen oblitum; almost certainly refers to Varanus gouldii (Gray, 1838); see also Shea, G.M. & Cogger, H.G. 1998. Placed on ICZN Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Names, see ICZN (2000)].
Secondary source:
Shea, G.M. & Cogger, H.G. 1998. Comments on the proposed conservation of the names Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 and Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980 (Reptilia, Squamata) by the designation of a neotype for Hydrosaurus gouldii. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 55(2): 106-111; ICZN 2000. Opinion 1948: Hydrosaurus gouldii Gray, 1838 (currently Varanus gouldii) and Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980 (Reptilia, Squamata): specific names conserved by the designation of a neotype for H. gouldii. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 57(1): 63-65 [63].
Pantherosaurus barryjonesi 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] [21].
Type data:
Holotype AM R116991 (previously AMF 16812), Hillston to Griffiths Road, NSW.
Secondary source:
Shea, G.M. & Sadlier, R.A. 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 15: 1-91 [64].
Varanus (Varanus) gouldii flavirufus Mertens, R. 1958. Bemerkungen über die Warane Australiens. Senckenbergiana Biologica 39: 229-264 [250, pl. 25 fig. 3, pl. 29 fig. 11].
Type data:
Holotype SMF 53271, Bat Caves S of Alice Springs, NT.

Generic Combinations

Varanus gouldii (Gray, 1838). —
Duméril, A.M.C. & Duméril, A. 1851. Catalogue Méthodique de la Collection des Reptiles. Paris : Mus. Hist. Nat. iv 224 pp. [52]
Varanus gouldii gouldii (Gray, 1838).

Introduction

Results of molecular analysis conducted by Fitch et al. (2006) and Brennan et al. (2021) do not support the monophyly of the subspecies V. gouldii flavirufus (Mertens, 1958) with respect to other forms of V. gouldii and we follow the Australian Society of Herpetologists in treating V. gouldii as monotypic until further work can be conducted.

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

Continental Australia except extreme southeast and forests of the east coast subject to very high rainfall; New Guinea

IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Coolgardie (COO), 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), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), 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), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, desert, diurnal, hummock grassland, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low shrubland, low woodland, open forest, open heath, open scrub, oviparous, predator, tall shrubland, tallopen shrubland, tussock grassland.