🐙 Cell & Organismal Biology
Emerald Tree Monitor
The emerald tree monitor (Varanus prasinus) is a slender, green monitor lizard of New Guinea that lives in the rainforest canopy. Unlike its large cousins, it is small and arboreal.
The emerald tree monitor (Varanus prasinus) is a slender, green monitor lizard of New Guinea that lives in the rainforest canopy. Unlike its large cousins, it is small and arboreal.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Emerald Tree Monitor in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Reptilia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Treetop Monitor
It has a long, prehensile tail and sharp claws for climbing. It eats insects, birds' eggs and small vertebrates, and its green color blends into the foliage.
Monitor Diversity
Monitors vary from tiny arboreal species to the Komodo dragon. See Komodo Dragon.
Smart Lizards
Monitors have complex brains and good eyesight for reptiles. See Nile Monitor.
Emerald Tree Monitor at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Varanus prasinus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Family | Varanidae |
| Field Guide group | Reptilia (Reptiles) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Slender New Guinean canopy predator with vibrant leaf-green scales patterned in dark transverse chevron bands, a deeply forked chemosensory tongue, and a long prehensile tail used as a fifth limb among branches. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC) |
| Family | Varanidae |
| Habitat | New Guinea rainforest canopy |
See Also
- Komodo Dragon — the largest monitor
- Nile Monitor — an African monitor
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