Common Water Monitor
Varanus salvator
Adult common water monitors are large semi-aquatic lizards found around rivers, mangroves, swamps, beaches, farms, and even city canals across parts of South and Southeast Asia. They are opportunistic predators and scavengers, eating fish, crabs, birds, eggs, rodents, reptiles, carrion, and refuse where humans are nearby. Adults swim strongly with a flattened tail, dive when threatened, and defend themselves with bites, claws, hissing, and heavy tail strikes. A notable adaptation is their keen chemosensory tracking, using the tongue and Jacobson’s organ to locate food over land and water.
- Type
- Water
- Conservation status
- LC
Growth chain
- Common Water Monitor Hatchling
- Asian Water Monitor Juvenile
- Common Water Monitor