Varanus salvadorii
species of reptile
The crocodile monitor (Varanus salvadorii), also known as the Papuan monitor or Salvadori's monitor, is a species of monitor lizard endemic to New Guinea. It is the largest monitor lizard in New Guinea and is one of the longest lizards, verified at up to 255 cm (100 in). Its tail is exceptionally long, with some specimens having been claimed to exceed the length of the Komodo dragon, however less massive.
The crocodile monitor is an arboreal lizard with a dark green body marked with bands of yellowish spots. It has a characteristic blunt snout and a very long prehensile tail. It lives among the mangrove swamps and coastal rainforests of the southeastern part of New Guinea, feeding opportunistically on everything from birds and small mammals to eggs, other reptiles, amphibians and carrion. Its large, backwards-curving teeth 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, and is sometimes considered one of the most agile monitor species.
Crocodile monitors are threatened by deforestation and poaching, and are protected by CITES. Little is known of its reproduction and development, as it is difficult to breed in captivity. Attempts at captive breeding have been mostly unsuccessful.
“Varanus salvadorii” enters the record as species of reptile. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Varanus, salvadorii and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q940883. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Varanus salvadorii” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.