Crocodile Monitor

Description:

The largest monitor lizard in New Guinea, it is believed to be one of the longest lizards in the world, reaching up to 244 cm (8.01 ft). It is the sole member of the subgenus Papusaurus. V. salvadorii is an arboreal lizard with a dark green body and yellowish bands, a blunt snout and a very long tail. It lives in mangrove swamps and coastal rain forests in the southeastern part of the island, where it feeds on birds, small mammals, eggs, and carrion in the wild, using teeth that are better adapted than those of most monitors for seizing fast-moving prey. Like all monitors it has anatomical features that enable it to breathe more easily when running than other lizards can, and V. salvadorii is though to have greater stamina than most monitors. Little is known about its reproduction and development, as the species is very difficult to breed in captivity.

Habitat:

Exhibit

Notes:

Captive individual at the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.