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West African Nile monitor






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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


West African Nile monitor
Two individuals in Gambia, which based on location are West African Nile monitors[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
Species:
Subspecies:
V. n. stellatus
Trinomial name
Varanus niloticus stellatus

(Daudin, 1802)

The West African Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus stellatus) is a subspecies of monitor lizard that is native to West African forests and adjacent savannah (east to northern Cameroon).[1] It has also been introducedtoFlorida, United States, where it is considered invasive.[2]

This cryptic species has traditionally been included in the Nile monitor (V. niloticus), but from 1997 to 2015 it was often considered as the western population of the ornate monitor (V. ornatus). Compared to the other members of the Nile monitor species complex (which also includes the ornate monitor of Central Africa), the West African Nile monitor has a genetic sequence divergence of more than 8%, meaning that they separated about 7.7 million years ago. This is a larger divergence than between humans and chimpanzees.[1][2] Despite this, the Reptile Database continues to place it within the Nile monitor, but do note that this broad species definition includes distinctive clades.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Dowell, Stephanie A.; Portik, Daniel M.; de Buffrénil, Vivian; Ineich, Ivan; Greenbaum, Eli; Kolokotronis, Sergios-Orestis & Hekkala, Evon R. (2016). "Molecular data from contemporary and historical collections reveal a complex story of cryptic diversification in the Varanus (Polydaedalus) niloticus species group". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94 (Pt B): 591–604. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.004. hdl:20.500.12648/7502. PMID 26475616.
  • ^ a b Yong, Ed (20 April 2016). Florida’s Dragon Problem. The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  • ^ Varanus niloticus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 15 September 2019.

  • t
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  • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_African_Nile_monitor&oldid=1195801637"

    Categories: 
    Varanus
    Reptiles of West Africa
    Reptiles of Cameroon
    Reptiles described in 1802
    Taxa named by François Marie Daudin
    Lizard stubs
    Hidden categories: 
    Articles with short description
    Short description matches Wikidata
    Articles with 'species' microformats
    Taxonbars without primary Wikidata taxon IDs
    All stub articles
     



    This page was last edited on 15 January 2024, at 09:21 (UTC).

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