AnimalvsAnimal
Water Monitor (about 1.5m long)🦎

Photo: Rob and Stephanie Levy · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesVaranidae
Reptiles

🦎Asian water monitor

Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768)

The Asian water monitor is a large varanid lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. It is widely considered to be the second-largest lizard species, after the Komodo dragon. It is distributed from eastern and northeastern India and Bangladesh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, through southern China and Hainan Island in the east to Mainland Southeast Asia and the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Lombok, the Riau Archipelago, and Sulawesi. It is one of the most widespread monitor lizards.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
3
Photos
2
Measurements
7
vs you
≈ 1/14th of your weight
Also called
Asian water monitor lizard, Common Water Monitor
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2021.

Population trendUnknown
Key measurements
Body mass
4.34 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
16 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Asian water monitor

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
4.34 kgrecord 42 kg · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Maximum lifespan
16 yearsrecord 16 years · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Diet
Carnivorous
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Diurnal
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Foraging mode
ACT
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Snout–vent length
1.17 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Other figures ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female0.5 mReptTraitsv1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024)
Volume l
4.3 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Asian water monitor yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classSquamata
  4. ›familyVaranidae
  5. ›genusVaranus
  6. ›speciesVaranus salvator
Full lineage
  1. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  2. superfamilyVaranoidea
  3. familyVaranidae
  4. genusVaranus
All 14 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. superorderLepidosauria
  10. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  11. infraorderAnguimorpha
  12. superfamilyVaranoidea
  13. familyVaranidae
  14. genusVaranus
More

More about the Asian water monitor

In other languages
水巨蜥 (zh), Waran paskowany (pl), Varan malais (fr), 물왕도마뱀 (ko), Varanus salvator (es), szalagos varánusz (hu) … and 21 more languages
More photos
Water Monitor (about 1.5m long)Asian Water Monitor (Scientific Name Varanus salvator)
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