4 Lace Monitor at Gundaroo, NSW
Identification history
| Varanus varius | 5 Dec 2020 | DonFletcher | ||
| Varanus varius | 4 Dec 2020 | wombey | ||
| Varanus rosenbergi | 4 Dec 2020 | SwalaPark |
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4 comments
DonFletcher
wrote:
5 Dec 2020
Hi Swala Park, Broad marking on lips and tail (and ready use of tree) would be why John ('wombey') called this as a Tree Goanna (aka Lace Monitor, Varanus varius) rather than the other local species, Rosenberg's Goanna, which is reported more often on CNM.
Timing is much earlier in the season than the nest digging by local Rosenberg's Goannas. Because of the leaves, I can't tell from the image if this goanna looks gravid. Did (she?) return to complete the hole, lay her eggs and partly backfill the hole? Was this a cannibal, excavating the young of another goanna? If there is further evidence, I'd be interested to hear - don.fletcher@emailme.com.au
Timing is much earlier in the season than the nest digging by local Rosenberg's Goannas. Because of the leaves, I can't tell from the image if this goanna looks gravid. Did (she?) return to complete the hole, lay her eggs and partly backfill the hole? Was this a cannibal, excavating the young of another goanna? If there is further evidence, I'd be interested to hear - don.fletcher@emailme.com.au
SwalaPark
wrote:
7 Dec 2020
Has not returned since I disturbed it. Did not appear to have eggs in the excavation and the white ants have since filled it in. Has been in the vicinity for the past couple of weeks as evidenced by upsetting the local magpies and cockatoos!
DonFletcher
wrote:
7 Dec 2020
At nesting time gravid female Rosenberg's Goannas can dig several test holes in different mounds before the final one in which they lay. Final hole typically 0.5 -0.7 m deep down into the soft central 'carton' of the termite mound. Probably Tree Goannas are the same in this respect. Some females wait inconspicuously nearby for a few more weeks to guard the nest from cannibal goannas. If you see any of that I would love to hear don.fletcher@emailme.com.au
Location information
- Places Gundaroo, NSW
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- SwalaPark Recorded by
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Collections
SwalaPark Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Varanus varius Monitors & Geckos Reptiles and Frogs
Additional information
- Nest building Breeding behaviour
- Female Gender
Species information
- Varanus varius Scientific name
- Lace Monitor Common name
- Sensitive
- Rare or uncommon native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 798.6m Recorded at altitude
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes