![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/90/OrnateMonitor.jpg/640px-OrnateMonitor.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Ornate monitor
Species of lizard / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ornate monitor (Varanus niloticus ornatus) is a monitor lizard that is native to West and Middle Africa.[1][2] Comprehensive molecular analyses of the group have demonstrated that animals previously assigned to "Varanus ornatus" do not constitute a valid taxon and are actually polymorphisms of two different species; Varanus stellatus (west African Nile monitor) and Varanus niloticus (Nile monitor).[1] Consequently, Varanus ornatus is considered a synonym of Varanus niloticus and "ornate monitor" is an informal term for forest forms of either species (V. niloticus or V. stellatus). Until 1997, the ornate monitor was considered a subspecies of the Nile monitor.[3] It was subsequently described as a separate species on the basis of reduced number of ocelli rows on the body, a light coloured tongue and a more massive build.[4] More recent work based on a large sample size using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences indicates that Varanus ornatus is not a valid species and that animals with the diagnostic appearance belong either of two sister species of Nile monitor.[1] Animals described as ornate monitor lizards are native to closed canopy forests in West and Middle Africa.[1]
Ornate monitor | |
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Scientific classification ![]() (disputed) | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Family: | Varanidae |
Genus: | Varanus |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | V. n. ornatus |
Trinomial name | |
Varanus niloticus ornatus (Daudin, 1803) |
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Hatchling_varanus_ornatus.jpg/640px-Hatchling_varanus_ornatus.jpg)