Varanus marmoratus (WIEGMANN, 1834)
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Varanus marmoratus
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| Higher Taxa | Varanidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Hydrosaurus marmoratus WIEGMANN in MEYEN 1834: 196 Monitor bivittatus philippensis SCHLEGEL 1839: X (nom. nud.) Monitor bivittatus philippensis SCHLEGEL 1844 Varanus manilensis MARTENS 1876: 196 Varanus salvator — GORGOZA 1888: 275 Varanus salvator marmoratus — MERTENS 1942: 254 Varanus salvator philippinensis DERANIYAGALA 1944 Varanus salvator marmoratus — GAULKE 1999 Varanus salvator marmoratus — GAULKE & HORN in PIANKA & KING 2004: 264 Varanus marmoratus — KOCH et al. 2007 Varanus salvator marmoratus — LAGAT 2009 Varanus (Soterosaurus) marmoratus — KOCH et al. 2010 Varanus (Soterosaurus) marmoratus — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50 |
| Distribution | Philippines (Luzon); restricted to Luzon and offshore islands by KOCH et al. 2010. Type locality: (restricted by MERTENS 1942 to) San Mateo near Manila, Philippines. Mertens’ decision, although adopted by later authors (e.g., Böhme 2003; Koch et al. 2007), was not conform to Article 76 of the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999), because no neotype was designated at the same time. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: ZMB 470, subadult, Luzon, Philippines, collected 1830-32 by F. J. F. Meyen. MNHN 8274 is the holotype of marmoratus Cuvier, 1829. The second missing syntype of Cuvier’s taxon very probably is MNHN 8275 (V17/23), another mounted specimen from Luzon, which is incorrectly labeled as Monitor nigricans Cuvier, 1829 (e.g. in Brygoo 1987). Syntypes: MNHN 8272 (formerly MNHN 1530), MNHN 6510, formerly MNHN 1880-385 [philippinensis DERANIYAGALA] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: (to distinguish V. marmoratus s. str. from all remaining members of the V. salvator complex): (1) low mean scale counts around the tail at its base (character Q = 85–107, mean = 94.73), (2) at one third of its length (character R = 48–65, mean = 51.73) and (3) around midbody (character S = 115–145, mean = 133.60); (4) high mean scale counts on the ventral side (character TN = 158–180, mean = 169); but in contrast, (5) larger scales and thereby low mean numbers on the dorsal side (character XY = 101–123, mean = 110.80); (6) at least in juveniles four to six dorsal transverse rows of large bright spots between the fore and hind limbs of which the second transverse row behind the forelimbs is usually reduced. This colour pattern, however, may dissolve in adults; (7) a whitish temporal streak between eye and tympanum; and (8) at least in juveniles six to eleven dark pointed bars or crossbands on the belly, which may dissolve with age. For details about scalation features and colour pattern of the remaining Philippine members of the V. salvator complex we refer to Tables 3 and 5 in KOCH et al. 2010. |
| Comment | Publication date: Some sources give other publication dates than 1834, see BAUER & ADLER (2001) for a discussion. Types: See also BÖHME & KOCH 2010 for a discussion of the types of Monitor marmoratus CUVIER 1829. According to the timetree in Fig. S3 of Brennan et al. (2020), several taxa within the V. salvator group are distinctly younger than 1 million years, such as cumingi, marmoratus, palawanensis, and samarensis, hence they may be better considered as subspecies of V. salvator (Ziegler & Vences 2020). |
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