Common Water Monitor
Varanus salvator
Reptilia
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- 10-20 yrs
- Size
- Large
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Freshwater wetland
- Range
- Southeast Asia
- Movement
- Walking
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Speed
- Status
- Common
About
One of the world's largest lizards, reaching up to 2.5 metres from snout to tail-tip, the common water monitor is a powerful semi-aquatic predator found across South and Southeast Asia. It forages on land and in water alike, flicking its deeply forked tongue to track prey by scent.
Life cycle
- 1.hatchlingA miniature lizard cuts itself free from its egg and starts hunting tiny insects within days.
- 2.juvenileA juvenile sheds repeatedly as it grows, often duller-colored than adults and quick to dart for cover.
- 3.adultFully grown with adult coloration and size.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Varanidae
- Genus
- Varanus
- Species
- Varanus salvator