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Asian Water Monitor

(Varanus salvator)

 

Category: Reptiles

 

 

The Asian water monitor is the third longest lizard in the world, able to reach lengths of 9 feet, though 3-5 feet is the normal range. They inhabit tropical forests in eastern India and Sri Lanka, eastward through southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They are excellent swimmers and eat a wide range of foods, including fish, rodents, eggs, and carrion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_monitor

http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Lizard-Species/Asian-Water-Monitor/

 

Data & Facts

Scientific Classification
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Sauropsida
Order - Squamata
Family - Varanidae
Genus - Varanus
Species - V. salvator

 
Did you know?
Interesting Animal Facts

Here’s blood in your eye!

Horned lizards utilize a few tried-and-true ways of avoiding predators: like many other animals, they blend in with their surroundings and can puff themselves up to look larger and more threatening. But what they are best known for is a particularly messy hail-Mary play, where they startle and confuse predators by squiring blood out of their eyes! To accomplish this, the horned lizard increases the blood pressure in its head, rupturing the vessels in its eyelid, at which point a stream of blood, carefully aimed and up to 5 feet in length squirts the offending predator. The horned lizard’s blood is particularly foul to canine and feline (possibly due to the high quantity of venomous harvester ants in its diet), and should provide just enough of a diversion (or aversion!) for the lizard to scurry away and survive another day!

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