It is likely that this species is actually a species complex of multiple different species that have been diverging since the
Pliocene, and diverged from the V. indicus species complex 4.7 million years ago.[5]
Distribution
Peach-throated monitors are endemic to New Guinea and surrounding islands such as
Biak,
Salawati,
Yapen,
Normanby, and
Waigeo.[5] It occurs in
rainforests at altitudes of 0–900 m (0–2,953 ft).[1]
Description
Peach-throated monitors grow up to 120 centimetres (3.9 ft) in total length (including tail). The colour of the throat is white-yellow to red, to which one of its common names refers.
Diet
Peach-throated monitors primarily eat
insects, and sometimes
frogs,[5] but may also take freshwater
fish and small
mammals.[6]
As food
Peach-throated monitors are hunted for human consumption in New Guinea.[7]
The
specific name, jobiensis, which is Latin, means "from Jobi". Jobi is the island also known as
Yapen, which is the
type locality of this species.[4]
^Pangau-Adam, Margaretha; Noske, Richard; Muehlenberg, Michael (2012). "Wildmeat or Bushmeat? Subsistence Hunting and Commercial Harvesting in Papua (West New Guinea), Indonesia". Human Ecology40: 611–621.
doi:
10.1007/s10745-012-9492-5
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.
ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Varanus karlschmidti, p. 236).
Further reading
Ahl E (1932). "Eine neue Eidechse und zwei neue Frösche von der Insel Jobi ". Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin17: 892–899. (Varanus indicus jobiensis, new subspecies, p. 892). (in German).
Mertens R (1951). "A New Lizard of the Genus Varanus from New Guinea". Fieldiana Zoology31 (43): 467–471. (Varanus karlschmidti, new species).
Ziegler T,
Schmitz A,
Koch A,
Böhme W (2007). "A review of the subgenus Euprepiosauras of Varanus (Squamata: Varanidae): morphological and molecular phylogeny, distribution and zoogeography, with an identification key for members of the V. indicus and V. prasinus species groups". Zootaxa1472: 1-28.