Ornate_monitor
Ornate monitor
Species of lizard
The ornate monitor (Varanus niloticus ornatus) is a monitor lizard that is native to West and Middle Africa.[1][2] Comprehensive molecular analyses of the group have demonstrated that animals previously assigned to "Varanus ornatus" do not constitute a valid taxon and are actually polymorphisms of two different species; Varanus stellatus (west African Nile monitor) and Varanus niloticus (Nile monitor).[1] Consequently, Varanus ornatus is considered a synonym of Varanus niloticus and "ornate monitor" is an informal term for forest forms of either species (V. niloticus or V. stellatus). Until 1997, the ornate monitor was considered a subspecies of the Nile monitor.[3] It was subsequently described as a separate species on the basis of reduced number of ocelli rows on the body, a light coloured tongue and a more massive build.[4] More recent work based on a large sample size using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences indicates that Varanus ornatus is not a valid species and that animals with the diagnostic appearance belong either of two sister species of Nile monitor.[1] Animals described as ornate monitor lizards are native to closed canopy forests in West and Middle Africa.[1]