Varanus giganteus 14   Christopher Watson🦎

Photo: Christopher Watson (http://www.comebirdwatchin… · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesVaranidae
Reptiles

🦎Perentie

Varanus giganteus (Gray, 1845)

The perentie is a species of monitor lizard. It is one of the largest living lizards, after the Komodo dragon, Asian water monitor, and the crocodile monitor. Found west of the Great Dividing Range in the arid areas of Australia, it is rarely seen because of its shyness and the remoteness of much of its range from human habitation. The species is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
None yet
Photos
2
Measurements
7
vs you
≈ 1/12th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.

Population trendStable
Key measurements
Body mass
5.33 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
20 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Perentie

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

Body mass
5.33 kgrecord 21 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
20 yearsrecord 20 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
0.95 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Other figures ↓

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

By sex

  • Female0.57 mReptTraitsv1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024)
Volume l
5.3 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 Perentie 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 giganteus
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 Perentie

In other languages
Varanus giganteus (it), Varanus giganteus (ca), Riesenwaran (de), Varanus giganteus (es), suurvaraani (fi), Varan Perenti (fr) … and 18 more languages
Videos

No videos of the Perentie yet.

We have 44,653 videos so far, and none of them features this animal yet.

All videos →
Tools

Compare the Perentie

Pick a tool — the Perentie is already selected.