#1629 · 🦎 reptiles

Common Water Monitor

🇳🇱 Watervaraan ·Varanus salvator

LCleast concern 🦎 Reptiles 📍 outside Europe

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Stephen John Davies · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Sadhika Vikram Bhat · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Tobin Sparling (he/him) · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Artemis Desteredes · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
5. © Rafael Vila · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
6. © Alexandre Roux · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
7. 114/1 หมู่ที่ 17 Tambon Mu Si, Amphoe Pak Chong, Chang Wat Nakhon Ratchasima 26000, Thailand:© Parinya Pawangkhanant · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. Pasir Ris:© sanjana_ · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. Haora, West Bengal, India:© Sourav Mandal · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. Kandy, Central, Sri Lanka:© Arthur Chapman · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

what is it?

Varanus salvator , commonly known as the water monitor or common water monitor , is a large lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. Water monitors are one of the most common monitor lizards found throughout Asia. They range from Sri Lanka and coastal northeast India to Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, and various islands of Indonesia, living in areas close to water. The Asian water monitor was described by Laurenti in 1768 and is among the largest squamate...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 31,127iNaturalist observations
weight 2.3 kgadult, up to
length 54 cmadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
31,127 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs up to about 2.3 kg.
About 54 cm long.
Scientifically named by Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in 1768 (258 years ago).