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The lace monitor (Varanus varius), also known as the tree goanna, is a member of the monitor lizard family native to eastern Australia. A large lizard, it can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in total length and 14 kilograms (31 lb) in weight.
If the female Lace Monitor can’t find a termite nest to lay her eggs in, she will nest in a hole in the ground and fill it with grass or leaf litter. The heat from the decomposing vegetation keeps the eggs warm.
Monitors are the only lizards that have a forked tongue.
This one is shedding its skin.
The goal of this observation is to monitor the defrosting of these dunes (or dust ridges?) for the next Martian spring. The dunes have pits that change from year to year—due to sublimating seasonal frost? Note the dust devil tracks running across the scene.
Image cutout is less than 5 km (3 mi) across and the spacecraft altitude was 252 km (156 mi). For full observation details including images with scale bars, visit the source link.
www.uahirise.org/ESP_073515_1245
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona
Botswana 2015 - Moremi Game Reserve.
Many thanks for the faves and comments, they are all very much appreciated.
www.etsy.com/listing/505015395/bjd-monitor-set?ref=shop_h...
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The Nile monitor is a large member of the monitor family found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa and along the Nile. The population of West Africa forests and savannahs is sometimes recognized as a separate species, the West African Nile monitor. Wikipedia
My garden. Ivy Leaf (Hedera), I would guess, is often overlooked. When I took this macro shot, it took me by surprise :)
Best viewed full screen. Looks far better on a PC/Laptop monitor.
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Found this magnificent lizard on my way down from climbing the Sigiriya rock fortress in Sri Lanka. It must have been at least 3m long if not more.
Mertens water monitor is a medium- to largesized (total length up to 1 m) semi-aquatic monitor, dark brown to black on the back with numerous small dark-edged cream or yellow spots. #D500
Lace Monitor or Tree Goanna (Varanus varius) Is a member of the monitor lizard family native to eastern Australia. A large lizard, it can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in total length and 14 kilograms (31 lb) in weight.
A pygmy member of the monitor, or goanna, family of lizards which has some very large members, such as the Perentie, which can grow to 2.5 metres. This is a young resident of Billabong Sanctuary and will probably grow to less than 70 cm.
It is a desert-dweller from the north of W.A., N.T. and Queensland.
The ridged tail looks like it was made from bottle-caps!
Monitor lizards look very much like the dragons that we see in fairy tale books. Of the 31 species in the world, four are from India: the Bengal monitor, the two-banded monitor, the desert monitor, and the yellow monitor lizard. All of the four are severely endangered species and are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. Which means anyone caught trapping or killing them can be punished with a fine of Rs. 25,000 and 5 years in jail. But it would seem that no one cares.
These useful jungle creatures that should live to 15 years very rarely even attain sexual maturity at the age of 3. This is because their meat and eggs are eaten and their body parts used for all sorts of fake remedies. The animals are hunted down, their spines or legs broken and they are then thrown into sacks and taken to villages and cities where they are kept alive in dreadful pain until the trader finds a gullible customer who will buy their sweat, organs, fat, or bones for aphrodisiacs, medicines, or amulets. So many ignorant people are sold parts of this creature in the false belief that it will cure some disease or the other. Many of you might have seen this helpless creature being roasted by madaris in the markets of your town.
The tongue of the live monitor is cut to be swallowed in the ridiculous hope that it will cure tuberculosis. The blood is drunk from its slit belly for asthma, its fat, to be rubbed on eyelids, is sold as a cure for failing sight or else rubbed onto wounds in the belief that it will heal them. Its head, cut off and burnt, is claimed to remedy every disease. It penis is used by Tantriks for black magic. Its flesh it touted as an aphrodisiac. Nor do we spare its young. The babies are steeped in alcohol and drunk to increase male potency. Even the eggs are considered a delicacy and cooked.
Nor is this the end of the list of horrors we heap on this reclusive creature. What do you think your lizard skin bags, wallets, and shoes are made of? The skins of these poor animals. In some parts of India, drums and the chambers of stringed instruments are made with their skins. During the Nagpanchami festival they are dug out of their resting places, nailed to poles, and carried in processions until they die.
There is no end to the torture we put these small vulnerable creatures to, because none of you ever protests.
Monitors are anything but primitive dragon like creatures. They are an extraordinary, versatile, hardy family of lizards that are good runners, diggers, climbers, and swimmers and are both tree and cave dwellers. They are a vital part of the ecosystem that keeps you alive and to kill them or to ignore those who carry on this trade is to endanger your own lives. They could live in peace if we let them. But it seems as if we Indians have decided to destroy another species for our false beliefs, superstitions, and passing fancies. Don’t buy lizard skin in any form, and catch lizard sellers when they enter your town and take them to the police. There are too few of these creatures left to take any more chances with their lives.
I lightened this up a bit on my other monitor because it appeared so dark. It's much lighter than I had anticipated here on this one...
Masai Mara National Reserve
Kenya
East Africa
A strange head on shot of the Grey-headed Kingfisher making it's long beak disappear.
A dry-country kingfisher of scrub and woodland, solitary or in pairs, often found near water, but unlike most kingfishers is not aquatic. Perches on a branch, unmoving for long periods while watching the ground for signs of insects or small lizards, bobbing head before diving on prey. In appearance very like the brown-hooded kingfisher but with a red rather than red and black bill and similar to the woodland kingfisher, but the woodland kingfisher lacks the chestnut belly and has greater coverage of cyan feathers on the back. Nests in holes in steep riverbanks and is aggressively protective of its nest by repeated dive-bombing of foraging monitor lizards. It is parasitised by the greater honeyguide. This species migrates at night and is often killed by flying into obstacles such as buildings, towers and powerlines.
I was looking for a more elegant/delicate pedestal for a monitor/TV, because I didn't like the ones I had and came up with these ideas.
Monitor lizards have a massive body and powerful legs. Most species have strong claws on their feet, and all but the largest monitors can climb well. The tail is long and powerful, usually about twice as long as the body, and can be flailed as a potent weapon. Monitors grow throughout their life, so the oldest individuals in a population are also the largest ones.
Monitors have a long, specialized tongue with a bifurcated tip that is highly sensitive to smell and taste. The tongue is extended to pick up scent chemicals, and is then retracted into the mouth where the scents are analyzed using an organ on the roof of the mouth.
Monitor lizards grow replacement teeth in the gaps between their mature teeth. They have at least 29 vertebrae above their hips. Nine of these are neck vertebrae, supporting the unusually long neck of these lizards. Their powerful jaws are hinged in the middle, allowing them to swallow large prey. The head of monitors is tapered, and there are distinct ear holes.
Monitors are active predators, hunting during the day. They stalk a wide range of animals and eat carrion and eggs as well. Monitors ingest their prey whole if it is small enough, but they can also dismember large prey items so they can be swallowed.
Monitors, like all lizards, are poikilothermic or “cold-blooded.” They are most energetic after they have been heated by the morning sun, since their muscles work much more efficiently and easily when they are warm. Monitors can run quickly to chase down prey. When doing so they lift their body and tail clear off the ground.
Monitors also swim well, and may seek water as a refuge when threatened. They can walk underwater, and can use their tongue to smell underwater.
When threatened, monitors can be formidably aggressive animals. They can inflict painful bites and scratches, and the largest species are capable of killing a human. However, monitors can be readily tamed in captivity.
May 20, 2017
This water beetle skating around low on the water's surface reminded me of images I had seen of early iron-clad warships of the US Civil War, Monitor and Merrimack.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2017
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...always learning - critiques welcome.
Shot with a Canon 7D.
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The Bengal monitor (Varanus bengalensis) or common Indian monitor, is a monitor lizard found widely distributed over the Indian Subcontinent, as well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia. This large lizard is mainly terrestrial, and its length can range from about 61 to 175 cm from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. Young monitors may be more arboreal, but adults mainly hunt on the ground, preying mainly on arthropods, but also taking small terrestrial vertebrates, ground birds, eggs and fish. Although large monitors have few predators apart from humans who hunt them for meat, younger individuals are hunted by many predators.