Dec 24, 2020
West African Nile monitor (Varanus stellatus)
Photo by Fabrice Stoger
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West African Nile monitor (Varanus stellatus)
Photo by Fabrice Stoger
An unrequited love story in 3 pictures
The Ornate Monitor (Varanus ornatus) is a species of Monitor lizard, native to West Africa. They live in lowland rainforests and can grow quite large - up to 2m (nearly 7ft) in length!
Until 1997 they were considered a subspecies of the Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus), but since then researchers found out they are their own species of monitor.