Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been told that any of the monitors under the subgenus Odatria can be considered as a Dwarf Monitor. Is this true?

If not, what are all the species out there that can be classified as one?

timor monitor are dwarf monitors....i know there a few others---i think ackies are and black tree monitors---but i am not 100% sure

First, the word dwarf is misused. Dwarf means, retart the development. Which means, smaller then normal. So a dwarf is a stunted individual of any species. An old two foot long water monitor is a dwarf.

Second, several members of the subgenus Odatria are midsized monitors. I would think any species that attains between 3 and 4 feet in lenght is mid sized. V.acanthurus, V.glebopalma, V.tristis, V.glaurti, all get over three feet.

Of course there are some truly small species that belong to odatria, like V.kingorum, V.caudolineatus, V.brevicauda, V.primordius, etc. Cheers

Thanks. It just seems odd to me that people are quick to classify Odatria as a designated subgenus for "Dwarf Monitors," which if I am not mistaken is any monitors that is smaller than 5'.

Sorry if the grammar made that sound odd. What I means is that it just seems odd that people would classify Odatria as the only subgenus for "Dwarf Monitors," when that term in definition is not a subgenus, but rather it is a pet trade label for any monitor under the adult length of 5'.

To understand what is small, one must understand what is large. There are very few really large species. Say 3 of sixty some odd species. Then the very small is confined to a handfull of species, say five. The rest, the vast majority of species are from 3 to 6 feet.

Three feet cannot be consider small as its in the middle of what all varanid species obtain. The truely small monitors are under a foot in total lenght. If you have a species that can reproduce at 8 or 9 inches total lenght, you cannot confuse that to a monitor thats a yard.

It just happens those species belong to Odatria. Cheers

Thanks Frank. So I am guessing it is wrong for them to consider any monitor under the Odatria to be a small monitor, when it is only a couple of species that are.

It just seem like in the reptile community, if a monitor is smaller than a Savannah, it is classified as a Dwarf. Like you said, people misuse the label.

Thanks for the clarification.