巨蜥
巨蜥属 化石时期:中新世到现代
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巨斑泽巨蜥 Varanus salvator macromaculatus | |
科学分类 | |
界: | 动物界 Animalia |
门: | 脊索动物门 Chordata |
纲: | 爬行纲 Reptilia |
目: | 有鳞目 Squamata |
科: | 巨蜥科 Varanidae |
属: | 巨蜥属 Varanus Merrem, 1820 |
模式种 | |
饰纹巨蜥 Varanus varius White, 1790
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亚属 | |
巨蜥是巨蜥属(学名:Varanus)的蜥蜴,包括了所有蜥蜴中最重的科莫多龙及最长的萨氏巨蜥。牠们的最近亲是蛇蜥科及毒蜥属。[1]
命名
巨蜥属的学名是衍生自阿拉伯语的 “ورل”,意思是蜥蜴。[2]
特征
巨蜥如其名都是体型巨大的,最短的也有0.8米长。牠们的颈长,尾巴及爪都很强壮,四肢发育良好。牠们大部分都是陆生的,也有栖息于树上及半水生的。差不多所有巨蜥都是肉食性的,会吃哺乳类、鸟类、鱼类、蛋、昆虫类以及爬行类,只有葛氏巨蜥是吃果实的。[3]牠们是卵生的,每次生7-37只蛋,牠们会将蛋埋在土中或藏在空心树墩中。[4]
分布
巨蜥属的分布范围非常广泛,属下物种遍布北非、西亚、中亚、南亚、东亚、东南亚和澳洲。
演化历史
巨蜥的代谢率较高,有多种感官来捕猎猎物。研究发现巨蜥,包括科莫多龙有轻微的毒素(可使猎物流血不止,导致囋齿动物(但不是鸟类)立即瘫痪。在人类中,毒液会导致恶心和呕吐、头晕、最终全身肌肉疼痛、心跳加速、呼吸复杂和腹泻,症状在短短20分钟后出现,但在大约24小时后结束,尽管被咬区域的瘙痒可能至少持续2个月)。[1]由于蛇蜥科也是含有毒素,因而有学者认为所有有毒的蜥蜴及蛇是源自一个共同祖先,即Toxicofera演化支假说。[1]也有学者指蛇较为接近巨蜥,而多于其他现存的蜥蜴。后来这个理论被修改,将蛇改为鬣蜥亚目及蛇蜥亚目的姊妹分类。[1]
智商
巨蜥非常聪明,一些物种甚至可以数数。[6]在圣地亚哥动物园,一项研究将不同数目的蜗牛喂给非洲巨蜥,发现牠们可以数数到六。[6][7]尼罗河巨蜥是会合作觅食:一只巨蜥会引开母鳄鱼离开巢穴,其他的则进入吃鳄鱼蛋。[6]作为饵诱的巨蜥之后会回来一同吃蛋。[6][7]在华盛顿史密森尼国家动物园(Smithsonian National Zoological Park)的科莫多龙可以辨认出动物园管理员,且似乎也有不同的性格。[7]
饲养
蜥是爬行类宠物市场的常客,当中普遍的是草原巨蜥,因为牠们体型细小、价廉,性格较为平静。[2]尼罗河巨蜥、南非白喉巨蜥、泽巨蜥、红树巨蜥、翡翠巨蜥及科莫多龙都有被饲养繁殖。[2]饲养的巨蜥需要隐藏的地方及适合的基床。[2]笼内须有足以整条巨蜥进入的水池。[2]在野外,巨蜥会吃任何能够驾驭的东西;但饲养下的会吃蟋蟀、超级麦皮虫及啮齿目,有时也可以熟蛋、蚕、蚯蚓及饵鱼。[2]不过,由于牠们依然具有掠食者本性及体型庞大,将牠们作为宠物也带有危险性。
保育状况
巨蜥属是受到《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》附录二的保护。在印度南部的淡米尔纳德邦及其他部分,捕捉或杀死巨蜥是非法的。这些地区过往都有食用巨蜥物种的肉[8]。除了在印度南部,尼泊尔亦有人以巨蜥的肉作食用或医药用途[9]。在泰国、澳大利亚及西非亦曾听闻有人食用巨蜥。
下属物种
- 刺尾巨蜥 Varanus acanthurus Boulenger, 1885,棘尾巨蜥
- 非洲巨蜥 Varanus albigularis (Daudin, 1802),白喉巨蜥
- 孔雀巨蜥 Varanus auffenbergi Sprackland, 1999,奥氏巨蜥
- 邦贡巨蜥 Varanus bangonorum Welton, Travers, Siler & Brown, 2014[11]
- 白氏巨蜥 Varanus baritji King & Horner, 1987,怀氏巨蜥
- 黑珍珠巨蜥 Varanus beccarii (Doria, 1874)
- 孟加拉巨蜥 Varanus bengalensis (Daudin, 1802),贝氏巨蜥
- 孟加拉巨蜥指名亚种 Varanus bengalensis bengalensis
- 暗色巨蜥 Varanus bengalensis nebulosus:又名孟加拉巨蜥东部亚种。
- 班奈特巨蜥 Varanus bennetti Weijola, Vahtera, Koch, Schmitz & Kraus, 2020
- 埃塔巨蜥 Varanus bitatawa Welton, Siler, Bennett, Diesmos, Duya, Dugay, Rico, Van Weerd & Brown, 2010[12]
- 金点树巨蜥 Varanus boehmei Jacobs, 2003,伯氏巨蜥
- 弗格森岛巨蜥 Varanus bogerti Mertens, 1950,波氏巨蜥
- 短尾巨蜥 Varanus brevicauda Boulenger, 1898
- 布氏侏儒巨蜥 Varanus bushi Aplin, A. Fitch & D. King, 2006,布氏巨蜥
- 黯绿巨蜥 Varanus caerulivirens Ziegler, Böhme & Philipp, 1999
- 尾纹巨蜥 Varanus caudolineatus Boulenger, 1898,纹尾巨蜥
- 斯兰安汶树巨蜥 Varanus cerambonensis Philipp, Böhme & Ziegler, 1999,安汶巨蜥
- Varanus citrinus Pavón-Vázquez, Esquerré, Fitch, Maryan, Doughty, Donnellan & Scott Keogh, 2022[13]
- 寇氏巨蜥 Varanus colei Böhme, Jacobs, Koppetsch & Schmitz, 2019
- 库氏巨蜥 Varanus cumingi Martin, 1839,肯氏巨蜥,原金头泽巨蜥。
- 维氏巨蜥 Varanus dalubhasa Welton, Travers, Siler & Brown, 2014[11]
- 蓝尾巨蜥 Varanus doreanus (Meyer, 1874),赠礼巨蜥,多氏巨蜥
- 普拉兰巨蜥 Varanus douarrha (Lesson, 1830)[14]
- 杜氏巨蜥 Varanus dumerilii (Schlegel, 1839)
- 沙生巨蜥 Varanus eremius Lucas & Frost, 1895,沙漠巨蜥
- 草原巨蜥 Varanus exanthematicus (Bosc, 1792),多疣巨蜥
- 芬西树巨蜥 Varanus finschi Böhme, Horn & Ziegler, 1994,芬氏巨蜥
- 黄巨蜥 Varanus flavescens (Hardwicke & Gray, 1827),渐黄巨蜥
- 眼斑巨蜥 Varanus giganteus (Gray, 1845),巨大巨蜥
- 吉兰巨蜥 Varanus gilleni Lucas & Frost, 1895,吉氏巨蜥
- 长尾岩巨蜥 Varanus glauerti Mertens, 1957,格氏巨蜥
- 宽足巨蜥 Varanus glebopalma Mitchell, 1955,黑掌巨蜥
- 砂巨蜥 Varanus gouldii (Gray, 1838),高氏巨蜥
- Varanus gouldii horni Böhme, 1988,为Varanus panoptes subsp. horni Böhme, 1988的异名
- Varanus gouldii rubidus
- 沙漠巨蜥 Varanus griseus (Daudin, 1803),灰巨蜥,灰纹巨蜥
- 哈默斯利巨蜥 Varanus hamersleyensis Maryan, Oliver, Fitch & O'Connell, 2014[15]
- 红树巨蜥 Varanus indicus (Daudin, 1802),印度巨蜥
- 伊江巨蜥 Varanus irrawadicus Yang and Li
- 卡氏巨蜥 Varanus jobiensis Ahl, 1932,约比巨蜥
- 伦内尔岛树巨蜥 Varanus juxtindicus Böhme, Philipp & Ziegler, 2002,邻印巨蜥
- 蓝鼻巨蜥 Varanus keithhornei Wells & Wellington, 1985,凯氏巨蜥
- 国王巨蜥 Varanus kingorum Storr, 1980,金氏巨蜥
- 科莫多龙 Varanus komodoensis Ouwens, 1912,科摩多巨蜥
- 祖母绿树巨蜥 Varanus kordensis (Meyer, 1874),科尔多巨蜥
- 利龙巨蜥 Varanus lirungensis Koch, Arida, Schmitz, Böhme & Ziegler, 2009,里朗巨蜥
- 班乃巨蜥 Varanus mabitang Gaulke & Curio, 2001,潘丹巨蜥
- 蓝树巨蜥 Varanus macraei Böhme & Jacobs, 2001,麦氏巨蜥
- 大理石水巨蜥 Varanus marmoratus (Wiegmann, 1934),石纹巨蜥
- 黄树巨蜥 Varanus melinus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997,榅色巨蜥
- 莫顿巨蜥 Varanus mertensi Glauert, 1951,梅氏巨蜥
- 米卓氏水巨蜥 Varanus mitchelli Mertens, 1958,米氏巨蜥
- 朦胧巨蜥 Varanus nebulosus (Gray, 1831)
- 内氏巨蜥 Varanus nesterovi Böhme, Ehrlich, Milto, Orlov & Scholz, 2015
- 尼罗巨蜥 Varanus niloticus (Linnaeus in Hasselquist, 1762),尼罗河巨蜥
- 白头水巨蜥 Varanus nuchalis (Günther, 1872),颈巨蜥
- 焰色巨蜥 Varanus obor Weijola & Sweet 2010
- 葛氏巨蜥 Varanus olivaceus Hallowell, 1856,橄绿巨蜥
- 华丽巨蜥 Varanus ornatus (Daudin, 1802),饰装巨蜥
- 巴拉望巨蜥 Varanus palawanensis Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010
- 百眼巨蜥 Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980,潘氏巨蜥[16]
- 模式亚种 Varanus panoptes panoptes Storr, 1980
- 弘氏亚种 Varanus panoptes horni Böhme, 1988
- 深红亚种 Varanus panoptes rubidus Storr, 1980
- 万加里亚种 Varanus panoptes wanjarri Bennet, 2003
- 皮尔巴拉岩巨蜥 Varanus pilbarensis Storr, 1980,皮尔巴拉巨蜥
- 翡翠巨蜥 Varanus prasinus (Schlegel, 1839),葱绿巨蜥
- 北部钝刺巨蜥 Varanus primordius Mertens, 1942,原初巨蜥
- 古巨蜥 Varanus priscus :已灭绝。
- 昆特氏树巨蜥 Varanus rainerguentheri Ziegler, Böhme & Schmitz, 2007,瑞氏巨蜥
- 拉氏巨蜥 Varanus rasmusseni Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010
- 瑞氏树巨蜥 Varanus reisingeri Eidenmüller & Wicker, 2005,亥氏巨蜥
- 黑砂巨蜥 Varanus rosenbergi Mertens, 1957,柔氏巨蜥
- 粗脖巨蜥 Varanus rudicollis (Gray, 1845),皱颈巨蜥
- 萨氏巨蜥 Varanus salvadorii
- 泽巨蜥 Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768),救世主巨蜥
- 亚洲水巨蜥 Varanus salvator salvator (Laurenti, 1768),模式亚种
- 安达曼水巨蜥 Varanus salvator andamanensis Deraniyagala, 1944,安达曼亚种
- 双带水巨蜥 Varanus salvator bivittatus (Kuhl, 1820),双纹亚种
- 黑水巨蜥 Varanus salvator komaini
- 巨斑泽巨蜥 Varanus salvator macromaculatus Deraniyagala, 1944,大斑亚种
- 齐氏亚种 Varanus salvator ziegleri Koch & Böhme, 2010
- 萨尔瓦多巨蜥 Varanus salvadorii (Peters & Doria, 1878),萨氏巨蜥
- 萨马巨蜥 Varanus samarensis Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010
- 带壮树巨蜥 Varanus scalaris Mertens, 1941,梯纹巨蜥
- 锈色巨蜥 Varanus semiremex Peters, 1869,半翎巨蜥
- 偏远巨蜥 Varanus semotus Weijola, Donnellan & Lindqvist, 2016[17]
- 近似巨蜥 Varanus similis Mertens, 1958
- 罕见巨蜥 Varanus sparnus Doughty, Kealley, Fitch & Donnellan, 2014[18]
- 史宾沙巨蜥 Varanus spenceri Lucas & Frost, 1903,斯氏巨蜥
- 所罗门龙骨巨蜥 Varanus spinulosus Mertens, 1941,多刺巨蜥
- 星斑巨蜥 Varanus stellatus (Daudin, 1802)
- 史东巨蜥 Varanus storri Mertens, 1966,思氏巨蜥
- Varanus tanimbar Weijola & Kraus, 2023[19]
- 罗素岛巨蜥 Varanus telenesetes Sprackland, 1991,远岛巨蜥
- 帝汶巨蜥 Varanus timorensis (Gray, 1831)
- 冢本巨蜥 Varanus tsukamotoi (Kishida, 1929)
- 汤加水巨蜥 Varanus togianus (Peters, 1872),托吉安巨蜥
- 黑头巨蜥 Varanus tristis (Schlegel, 1839), 黯巨蜥
- 模式亚种 Varanus tristis tristis (Schlegel, 1839)
- 雀斑巨蜥 Varanus tristis orientalis Fry, 1913,东部亚种
- 饰纹巨蜥 Varanus varius (Shaw, 1790),杂色巨蜥
- 也门巨蜥 Varanus yemenensis Böhme, Joger & Schätti, 1989
- 三色巨蜥 Varanus yuwonoi Harvey & Barker, 1998,尤氏巨蜥
- 银树巨蜥 Varanus zugorum Böhme & Ziegler, 2005,扎氏巨蜥
参考文献
- ^ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fry, B.G.; Vidal, N; Norman J.A.; Vonk F.J.; Scheib, H.; Ramjan S.F.R; Kuruppu S.; Fung, K.; Hedges, B.; Richardson M.K.; Hodgson, W.C.; Ignjatovic, V.; Summerhays, R.; Kochva, E. Early evolution of the venom system in lizards and snakes. Nature. February 2006, 439: 584–8 [2009-08-26]. doi:10.1038/nature04328. (原始内容存档于2009-04-19).
- ^ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Robert George Sprackland. Giant lizards. Neptune, NJ: T.F.H. Publications. 1992: 61. ISBN 0-86622-634-6.
- ^ Greene, Harry W. Diet and Arboreality in the Emerald Monitor, Varanus Prasinus, With Comments on the Study of Adaptation. Field Museum of Natural History. 1986. ISBN 9998057760.
- ^ Bauer, Aaron M. Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G. , 编. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. 1998: 157–159. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
- ^ Smith, Kerri. Dragon virgin births startle zoo keepers. Nature. [2006-12-20]. (原始内容存档于2021-03-09).
- ^ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 King, Dennis & Green, Brian. Goannas: The Biology of Varanid Lizards. University of New South Wales Press. 1999: 43. ISBN 0-86840-456-X.
- ^ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pianka, E.R.; King, D.R. and King, R.A. Varanoid Lizards of the World. Indiana University Press. 2004.
- ^ Meats We Also Eat. The Telegraph India. 2017-01-08 [2018-08-12]. (原始内容存档于2018-08-12) (英语).
- ^ Ghimire, H. R., Phuyal, S., & Shah, K. B. Protected species outside the protected areas: People's attitude, threats and conservation of the Yellow Monitor (Varanus flavescens) in the Far-western Lowlands of Nepal. Journal for Nature Conservation. 2014, 22 (6): 497–503. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2014.08.003.
- ^ Varanus Merrem, 1820. GBIF. [2023-06-07]. (原始内容存档于2023-05-31).
- ^ 11.0 11.1 Welton, Luke J., Scott L. Travers, Cameron D. Siler & Rafe M. Brown. 2014. Integrative Taxonomy and Phylogeny-based Species Delimitation of Philippine Water Monitor Lizards (Varanus salvator Complex) with Descriptions of Two New Cryptic Species. Zootaxa. 3881(3); 201–227. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3881.3.1
- ^ Luke J. Welton, Cameron D. Siler, Daniel Bennett, Arvin Diesmos, M. Roy Duya, Roldan Dugay, Edmund Leo B. Rico, Merlijn Van Weerd and Rafe M. Brown. 2010. A Spectacular New Philippine Monitor Lizard reveals a Hidden Biogeographic Boundary and a Novel Flagship Species for Conservation. Biology Letters. 6 (5): 654–658. doi: dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0119.
- ^ Carlos J. Pavón-Vázquez, Damien Esquerré, Alison J. Fitch, Brad Maryan, Paul Doughty, Stephen C. Donnellan and J. Scott Keogh. 2022. Between A Rock and A Dry Place: Phylogenomics, Biogeography, and Systematics of Ridge-tailed Monitors (Squamata: Varanidae: Varanus acanthurus complex). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. In Press, 107516. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107516
- ^ Valter Weijola, Fred Kraus, Varpu Vahtera, Christer Lindqvist and Stephen C. Donnellan. 2017. Reinstatement of Varanus douarrha Lesson, 1830 As A Valid Species with Comments on the Zoogeography of Monitor Lizards (Squamata : Varanidae) in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. Australian Journal of Zoology. DOI: 10.1071/ZO16038
- ^ Maryan B, Oliver PM, Fitch AJ and O'Connell M. 2014. Molecular and Morphological Assessment of Varanus pilbarensis (Squamata: Varanidae), with a description of a new species from the southern Pilbara, Western Australia. Zootaxa. 3768(2): 139-158.
- ^ J. Sean Doody, Hugh James, Kim Colyvas, Colin R. Mchenry and Simon Clulow. 2015. Deep Nesting in A Lizard, Déjà Vu Devil's Corkscrews: First Helical Reptile Burrow and Deepest Vertebrate Nest. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. DOI: 10.1111/bij.12589
- ^ Valter Weijola, Stephen Donnellan and Christer Lindqvist. 2016. A New Blue-tailed Monitor Lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanus indicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys. 568: 129-154. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.568.6872
- ^ Paul Doughty, Luke Kealley, Alison Fitch and Stephen C. Donnellan. 2014. A New Diminutive Species of Varanus from the Dampier Peninsula, western Kimberley region, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum. 29 128–140.
- ^ Valter Weijola and Fred Kraus. 2023. Two New Species of Monitor Lizards (Squamata: Varanus) endemic to the Louisiade and Tanimbar Archipelagos with A Key to the Subgenus Euprepiosaurus. Journal of Natural History. 57(13-16); 947-975. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2023.2218574