Singin’ the Blues
This monitor lizard has got the blues, and, sadly, it’s not just because of the color of its scales. This species was perfectly happy lounging and hunting in the treetops of its Indonesian island habitat until much of it was cleared to make way for oil palm plantations.
Media For Educational Use Only
DownloadSingin’ the Blues
This monitor lizard has got the blues, and, sadly, it’s not just because of the color of its scales. This species was perfectly happy lounging and hunting in the treetops of its Indonesian island habitat until much of it was cleared to make way for oil palm plantations.
What am I looking at?
This is the head and front legs of a blue tree monitor lizard (Varanus macraei). You can see its red eye (1) and long neck and head (2).
Biology in the background
These monitor lizards are native to the island of Batanta in Indonesia. They are now a protected species in Indonesia and no legal collection of them is allowed from the wild. They are also an endangered species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List because of habitat loss to agriculture and poaching (illegal collecting for the pet trade). But they are being bred in captivity by reptile enthusiasts, often as a part of breeding programs, in the hope of reintroducing them to their natural environment.
In the wild, they spend most of their lives in the trees, and their anatomy reflects this. They have long, thin, claw-tipped toes that are good for gripping the bark and branches of trees. Their tail is nearly twice as long as the rest of their body and is prehensile – which means they can use it to wrap around and hold onto tree branches. They mainly hunt insects and small lizards, supplementing their diet with eggs and occasionally berries.
Monitor lizards can grow to over a meter long (about 3.5 feet).
Technique
These images were created using macrophotography.
Igor Siwanowicz, HHMI's Janelia Research Campus