White-throated Monitor
Varanus albigularis
The White-throated Monitor is a large, stout, carnivorous lizard with strong, stocky limbs and sharp claws. Their diet consists mainly of millipedes, beetles, grasshoppers and land snails. They have a forked tongue that enables them to detect their prey’s scent with better accuracy. Once they catch their prey, they can swallow it whole or in large pieces. They do this by dislocating the thyroid bone to enlarge the throat.
Monitors are very ingenious in their breeding tactics. They use the termite mounds as their incubators. The female uses her sharp claws to dig, making her way into the termite mound, where she lays the eggs. Once baby lizards are old enough, they make their way out of the mound.
Conservation
The greatest threat to this species of monitor lizard is the destruction and fragmentation of its habitat. It is also hunted for its hide and meat, and for use in traditional medicines.
- Species
- White-throated Monitor
- Length
- 150-200 cm
- Weight
- up to 11 kg
- Eggs
- 20-50
- Range
- Wide distribution through southwestern, southcentral, and eastern Africa.
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Conservation status
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