Perentie
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| Image:Perentie Lizard Perth Zoo SMC Spet 2005.jpg Perentie Lizard at Perth Zoo
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| Varanus giganteus (Gray, 1845) |
The Perentie is the largest monitor lizard or goanna native to Australia.
They are found west of the Great Dividing Range in the arid areas of Australia. The lizard can grow up to 2.5 metres (8 ft) in length although the average length is around 1.75-2 metres (5.5-6.5 ft). It is arguably the third largest lizard on earth, after the Komodo Dragon, and the water monitor. Their rival for third largest lizard is the crocodile monitor. Crocodile Monitors are longer and often exceed 8 feet in length but perenties are heavier and bulkier than the crocodile monitor. However, Perenties are relatively lean lizards, less bulky than either the Komodo dragon or the water monitor.
Perenties are not a common sight in Australia: they are hard to find, and usually evade any human "looker" before the "looker" has a chance to see them. They were a favoured food item among desert Aboriginal tribes, and the fat was used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.
They can stand on their back legs and tail to gain a better view of the surrounding terrain. This behaviour, known as "tripoding", is quite common to all monitors large and small. Perenties are fast sprinters, running using either all fours legs or just their hind legs.
In late 2005, University of Melbourne researchers discovered that perenties, along with goannas and other monitors, are venomous. Previously, it had been thought that bites inflicted by these lizards were simply prone to infection because of bacteria in the lizards' mouths. According to some Australian wives' tales, the perentie is immune to the bite of venomous snakes. This folk lore has not been experimentally tested in light of the discovery that the perentie is itself venomous.
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[edit] Diet
Perenties generally forage for their food, but are also known to wait for small animals to come to them. Prey include:
- Insects
- Reptiles, including their own kin
- Birds
- Small mammals
- Carrion
[edit] Habitat
- Arid
- Rocky with hard packed soil and some other loose rock matter
[edit] References
- Cogger, H. (1967). Australian Reptiles in Colour. Sydney: A. H. & A. W. Reed, ISBN 0-589-07012-6
- King, Dennis & Green, Brian. 1999. Goannas: The Biology of Varanid Lizards. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 086840456X
[edit] External links
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