{{Short description|Species of lizard}} {{Speciesbox | image = Rusty Desert Monitor.png | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Shea, G. |author2=Wilson, S. |author3=Oliver, P. |date=2018 |title=''Varanus eremius'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T83777752A101752305 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T83777752A101752305.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Varanus | parent = Varanus (Odatria) | species = eremius | authority = Lucas & Frost, 1895<ref name="Lucas1895">{{cite journal |last1=Lucas |first1=A.H.S. |last2=Frost. |first2=C. |title=Preliminary notice of certain new species of lizards from central Australia |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria |date=1895 |volume=7 |pages=264–269 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/4562}}</ref><ref name="first">{{cite web|url=http://www.monitor-lizards.net/species/odatria/eremius.html|title=Monitor-lizards.net|access-date=1 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100519024154/http://www.monitor-lizards.net/species/odatria/eremius.html|archive-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> }}
The '''rusty desert monitor''' ('''''Varanus eremius''''')<ref>[https://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/62040 Uniprot.org]</ref> is a [[species]] of small [[monitor lizard]]s native to [[Australia]]. It is also known as the '''pygmy desert monitor'''.<ref>[http://jcvi.org/reptiles/species.php?genus=Varanus&species=eremius JCVI.org]</ref> The monitor lizard belongs to the [[subgenus]] ''Odatria'' along with the [[Varanus gilleni|pygmy mulga monitor]].<ref name="first" /><ref>[http://www.kingsnake.com/monitor/species.html Kingsnake.com]</ref> This monitor lizard is [[oviparous]] as with other monitor lizards.<ref>[http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Varanidae/Varanus/eremius arod.com.au]</ref>
==Taxonomy== A description of the species was presented to the [[Royal Society of Victoria]] in 1895 by [[Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas|Arthur H. S. Lucas]] and [[Charles Frost (naturalist)|Charles Frost]].<ref name="Lucas1895" />
==Distribution== ''Varanus eremius'' is the most widespread of the pygmy goannas. It lives in [[desert]] and semidesert areas of [[South Australia]], [[Western Australia]], and the [[Northern Territory]]. Its [[Range (biology)|range]] possibly includes [[Queensland]], as well.;<ref>Pianka, E. R. (1968). Notes on the biology of Varanus eremius. West. Aust. Nat. 11: 39-44 1968; Houston 1978;</ref><ref>Storr G M (1980). The monitor lizards (genus Varanus Merrem, 1820) of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 8(2) 1980: 237-293.</ref> Storr & Harold 1980).
==Description== The rusty desert monitor reaches a total length of about 50 cm.<ref name="first" /> The colouration of this monitor lizard on the upper side is light to dark reddish-brown with numerous, irregularly distributed, black or deep-brown spots. Sometimes, smaller [[primrose (color)|primrose]] or cream-colored spots are present. Its tail shows alternating cream-colored and deep-brown longitudinal stripes, which are often broken up into scattered spots at the tail base. A conspicuous black stripe occurs from the [[snout]] to the eye.<ref name="first" />
==Behaviour== This species spends its life [[cursorial|on the ground]] and seldom climbs [[tree]]s. No successful breeding in [[Captivity (animal)|captivity]] has yet been reported.<ref name="first" />
===Diet=== Stomach contents indicate the diet by volume of the rusty desert monitor consists mainly of other lizards (76%), especially ''[[Ctenotus]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=Hugh I.|date=2010|title=Dwarf monitor lizards (Varanidae:Varanus, Odatria s. gen.) as definitive and paratenic hosts for physalopteran nematodes|url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=ZO09122|journal=Australian Journal of Zoology|language=en|volume=58|issue=2|page=69|doi=10.1071/ZO09122|issn=0004-959X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The remainder of animals eaten by this monitor include large [[grasshopper]]s and occasional [[scorpion]]s, [[centipede]]s, [[cockroach]]es and [[caterpillar]]s.<ref>[http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/Veremius.html UTtexas.edu]</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://biocyclopedia.com/index/monitor_lizards/varanus_eremius.php | title=Varanus Eremius }}</ref>
===Parasites=== As a result of a diet of primarily lizard prey, which are hosts for [[Physaloptera|physalopteran]] [[Nematode|nematodes]], this species in the wild has a higher prevalence and intensity of larval cysts in the stomach tissue and body cavity than any other species of monitor lizard. However, the development of worms are arrested in a cystic stage in ''V. eremius'', reducing the burden of adult worms on the host's body.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{Reflist}} * [http://www.mampam.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=76 Mampam.com] (Retrieved Aug. 10, 2010)
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3011587}}
[[Category:Varanus]] [[Category:Monitor lizards of Australia]] [[Category:Reptiles described in 1895]]