The savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus), also called Bosc's monitor after the French naturalist who first described it in 1792, is a medium-sized monitor lizard native to a broad band of sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Sudan and south toward the Congo River and the Rift Valley. It has a stout body, short limbs, and large, coarse scales, and its blunt teeth are adapted for crushing the snails and other hard-bodied invertebrates that make up much of its diet, along with insects, frogs, and occasional carrion. It is one of the most commonly traded monitor lizards in the international pet trade. The IUCN assesses it as Least Concern.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to People Relationship to People Living or Extinct Scientific Name Conservation Status Comparison
CITES Appendix Connections
Child Taxon Of
Varanus, Taxa Source Savannah Monitor (Wikidata)
In Biome
Source Savannah Monitor (Wikidata)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Savannah monitor
WikipediaIn captivity
The savannah monitor is the most common monitor lizard species available in the pet trade, accounting for almost half (48.0552%) of the entire international trade in live monitor lizards.
Threats
The species is hunted for its leather, meat, and for the international pet trade.
Infobox: status2
CITES_A2
Article text
Their diet is much more restricted than that of other African monitor lizards, consisting mainly of snails, crabs, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, orthopterans, mantids, hymenopterans, lepidopterans, beetles and other invertebrates, as well as frogs.
Infobox: status
LC
View the Source 2. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (species profiles): Species profiles of Varanus exanthematicus
GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (species profiles)system profileQuote, system profile
"habitat": "terrestrial"
3. Savannah Monitor (Wikidata)
Wikidata- Wikidata Q135677 (P225 taxon name)
Statements section, conservation status (P141)
IUCN Red List conservation status (Wikidata property P141): least concern.
- Child Taxon Of: Varanus, Wikidata P171 (parent taxon)
- In Biome: Savanna, Introduction
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