Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will get around to taking some new pics , but these are as a fresh import earlier this year, he is growing like a weed and the Orange is actually intensifying, any guesses on locality type?

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Bawaa Herps
www.BawaaHerps.com
sales@bawaaherps.com
"Conservation through Captive Propagation"

Thanks for looking

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Bawaa Herps
www.BawaaHerps.com
sales@bawaaherps.com
"Conservation through Captive Propagation"

thanks

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Bawaa Herps
www.BawaaHerps.com
sales@bawaaherps.com
"Conservation through Captive Propagation"

Hello Q,
This is from the same general region, maybe include Mozambique too; The patterns of these animals are fairly consistant in your pic throughout south-central - south-eastern Africa to Botswana and the Drakensberg Rift/Rise, where they change pattern in the lowveld across RSA, Botswana and Namibia...north in Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, they are quite different in color although the ocelli are very similar, but have a more noticeable black ring around each ocelli than southern forms and much much more yellow on their face and limbs...
Good luck,
mbayless

Thanks for the info, just to clarify, are you saying BT or WT,for I as well as alot of others , it is hard to distinquish where the 2 seperate from North to South. Hope I can somehow pair this guy up as he is really a stunner.
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Bawaa Herps
www.BawaaHerps.com
sales@bawaaherps.com
"Conservation through Captive Propagation"

Hi G-Q,
Black throats and white throats are the same species if that is what your asking me, V. albigularis; no subspecies, just geographic variation north to south, east to west is all. In 1802 Francois Daudin named this lizard Lacerta albogularis (black throated lizard), and in 1802 changed it to Lacerta albigularis (white throated lizard) with no explanation or was it a typo error(? - nobody knows, or seems to care now, but I do), later in 1885 Genus name changed to Varanus, where it is today....so you see even Daudin was confused back "in-the-day" when Napoleon was Marching across Europe, with only Czar Alexander I and Marshal Blucher of Prussia, and later Duke of Wellington of England to stop him - the world events were pretty crazy then too! I digress, to get back to answer, you have a V. albigularis = white throat specimen there....
Good luck,
cheers,
mbayless

The names Whitethroat and blackthroat, are common names. They are used to identify localized populations or used, in our cases, to identify animals that come into the varanid trade here in the states.

Yours is not a whitethroat or a normal blackthroat. You must remember, monitors do not conform to what you want them to look like. Which means, there is tremendous variation in any givin population. This would include what you consider normal and occasionally odd colors and patterns.

When you get an odd animal, it very well could be one that was dropped off at the exporters by someone from an area not normally collected. Or simply odd for the normal area. This you will never know because there is no locality data.

About albigs, CITES identifys these as V.a.mirostitus and V.a.albigularis. They are subspecies. A subspecies are closely related animals that may only have the slighest differences, like color, pattern, size, or small scalation differences. Subspecies normally intergrade, species normally do not. Subspecies are locality morphs of the same species. For instance, you know, my whitethroats are different then Ionidies blackthroats, don't you. Ionidies blackthroats are from a different locality then my whitethroats. Having subspecies, helps you identify this.

Also, common names, are to help you do this. for instance, an amel gopher, tells you, its not a normal gopher. Thats simply a name to help you identify and converse about a particular individual.

About what some local U.S. boys want to call them, hey, they can call them anything they want. But surely it was of no help to you. The truth is, both scientific nomenclature(sp) and common names are suppose to be of use. That is, they are suppose to be helpful. If they want to muck around and make them of no use, then you have to consider that they may be very poor at their job. The reason for naming them, is to give you an understanding, that is all. Good luck F