Nile Monitor Lizard

Description:

The Nile Monitor Lizard is the largest lizard in Africa, growing up to 2.1 meters (7 feet) long. This one was about a meter long.

Habitat:

This Lizard was spotted at a river crossing over the river Timfenheni.

Notes:

Adult Nile monitor lizards can easily outrun people over short distances. They can also remain underwater for more than an hour. The female Nile monitor lays her clutch of eggs in the active mounds of termites. The heat from the termites acts to incubate the eggs. They can team up with other individuals to steal eggs from larger predators such as Nile crocodiles. While one monitor provokes a female crocodile away from a nesting site, another will dig up the unguarded eggs In Florida, established breeding populations of Nile monitors are known to exist in different parts of the state since at least 1990. Read more here: http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment...