📸 PhotoPhoto: Rob and Stephanie Levy from Townsville, Australia · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Common Water Monitor
Varanus salvator (Common Water Monitor · ミズオオトカゲ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its reported maximum length of 3 m is slightly shorter than a compact car (about 3.6 m) (Comparison).
- 💡 ADW notes that its average lifespan in captivity is about 10.6 years.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Common Water Monitor is a large monitor lizard living along rivers and in swamps from South Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It is usually 1.5 m or less in length, with individuals up to 3 m reported. Males are about twice as heavy as females.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
An extreme carnivore, it eats birds and their eggs, rats, fish, lizards, frogs, snakes, juvenile crocodiles, and even turtles. It chases down prey, can stay submerged for up to 30 minutes when hunting aquatic prey, and digs burrows averaging 9.5 m long in riverbanks.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2021) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/178214/113138439
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 7FG74
- • iucnredlist.org — 113138439
- • wikidata.org — Q655616
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Water Monitor (about 1.5m long).jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Varanus salvator
- • reptile-database.reptarium.cz — species
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Christina Zdenek · CC BY 4.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Varanus storri storri)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.