Yellow-headed water monitor

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Yellow-headed water monitor
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Scientific classification
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Subgenus:
V. (Soterosaurus)
Species:
V. cumingi
Binomial name
Varanus cumingi
Martin, 1839

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The yellow-headed water monitor (Varanus cumingi ), also commonly known as the Philippine water monitor or Cuming's water monitor, is a large species of monitor lizard previously recognized as a subspecies of the water monitor (Varanus salvator ), but today commonly acknowledged as a species in its own right.[1][2] It feeds on birds, fish, mammals, and carrion. The species thrives in forest and water margins in tropical refuges.

Etymology

The specific name, cumingi, is in honor of English conchologist and botanist Hugh Cuming.[3]

Geographic range

V. cumingi is found in the southern Philippines, where it is mainly distributed in Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.

Description

V. cumingi has the highest degree of yellow coloration among all the endemic water monitors in the Philippines, probably even in the world.

Habitat

V. cumingi inhabits primary and secondary forests, and cultivated lands.

Diet

The diet of V. cumingi is composed of rodents, birds, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other invertebrates, including eggs and carrion.[4]

Subspecies

Two subspecies were formerly recognized: V. c. cumingi occurring on Mindanao and offshore islands and V. c. samarensis on the islands of Bohol, Leyte and Samar. However, the latter has since been elevated to full species status as Varanus samarensis.

Showing yellow head
Darker individual in Frankfurt Zoo

References

  1. Koch A, Auliya M, Schmitz A, Kuch U, Böhme W. (2007). "Morphological Studies on the Systematics of South East Asian Water Monitors (Varanus salvator Complex): Nominotypic Populations and Taxonomic Overview". pp. 109-180. In: Horn H-G, Böhme W, Krebs U (editors). (2007). Advances in Monitor Research III. (Mertensiella Series 16). Rheinbach: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde.
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  3. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Varanus cumingi, p. 62).
  4. Avilon Zoo, http://www.avilonzoo.com.ph