Editing Monitor lizard (section)

==Evolution==
[[File:Varanus priscus Melbourne Museum.jpg|thumb|The giant extinct [[megalania]] (''Varanus priscus'')]]

''Varanus'' is the only living genus of the family [[Varanidae]]. Varanids last shared a common ancestor with their closest living relatives, [[Earless monitor lizard|earless "monitors"]], during the [[Late Cretaceous]]. The oldest known varanids are from the [[Late Cretaceous]] of Mongolia. During the [[Eocene]], the varanid ''[[Saniwa]]'' occurred in North America. The closest known relative of ''Varanus'' is ''[[Archaeovaranus]]'' from the Eocene of China, suggesting that the genus ''Varanus'' is of Asian origin. The oldest fossils of ''Varanus'' date to the early [[Miocene]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Dong |first1=Liping |last2=Wang |first2=Yuan-Qing |last3=Zhao |first3=Qi |last4=Vasilyan |first4=Davit |last5=Wang |first5=Yuan |last6=Evans |first6=Susan E. |date=2022-03-28 |title=A new stem-varanid lizard (Reptilia, Squamata) from the early Eocene of China |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=377 |issue=1847 |pages=20210041 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2021.0041 |pmc=8819366 |pmid=35125002 }}</ref>

Many of the species within the various [[Subgenus|subgenera]] also form [[species complex]]es with each other:

''[[Varanus (Euprepiosaurus)|Euprepriosaurus]]''

*''V. indicus'' species complex (''[[Mangrove monitor|V. indicus]]'', ''[[Varanus cerambonensis|V. cerambonensis]]'', ''[[Varanus caerulivirens|V. caerulivirens]]'', ''[[Varanus colei|V. colei]]'', ''[[Sago monitor|V. obor]]'', ''[[Lirung monitor|V. lirugensis]]'', ''[[Varanus rainerguentheri|V. rainerguentheri]]'', ''[[Varanus zugorum|V. zugorum]]'')<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cites.org/eng/notif/1997/964.shtml|title=Recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee|date=1997-03-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518210428/http://www.cites.org/eng/notif/1997/964.shtml|archive-date=2008-05-18}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Böhme|first=Wolfgang|date=2019-11-23|title=The Kei Islands Monitor Lizard (Squamata: Varanidae: Varanus: Euprepiosaurus) as a Distinct Morphological, Taxonomic, and Conservation Unit|journal=Russian Journal of Herpetology|volume=26|issue=5|pages=272–280|doi=10.30906/1026-2296-2019-26-5-272-280|s2cid=213867767 }}</ref>

*''V. doreanus'' species complex (''[[Blue-tailed monitor|V. doreanus]]'', ''[[Finsch's monitor|V. finschi]]'', ''[[Mussau Island blue-tailed monitor|V. semotus]]'', ''[[Varanus yuwonoi|V. yuwonoi]]'')<ref name=":3" />
*''V. jobiensis'' species complex (''[[Peach-throated monitor|V. jobiensis]]'')<ref name=":3" />
''[[Varanus (Odatria)|Odatria]]''
*''V. acanthurus'' species complex (''[[Spiny-tailed monitor|V. acanthurus]]'', ''[[Black-spotted ridge-tailed monitor|V. baritji]]'', ''[[Northern blunt-spined monitor|V. primordius]]'', ''[[Varanus storri|V. storri]]'')
*''V. timorensis'' species complex (''[[Varanus timorensis|V. timorensis]]'', ''[[Peacock monitor|V. auffenbergi]]'', ''[[Banded tree monitor|V. scalaris]]'', ''[[Varanus similis|V. similis]]'', ''[[Black-headed monitor|V. tristis]])''
''[[Varanus (Varanus)|Varanus]]''
*''V. gouldii'' species complex (''[[Sand goanna|V. gouldii]]'', ''[[Rosenberg's monitor|V. rosenbergi]]'', ''[[Yellow-spotted monitor|V. panoptes]]'')
''[[Varanus (Polydaedalus)|Polydaedalus]]''
*''V. exanthematicus'' species complex (''[[Savannah monitor|V. exanthematicus]]'', ''[[Rock monitor|V. albigularis]]'', ''[[Yemen monitor|V. yemenensis]]'')
*''V. niloticus'' species complex (''[[Nile monitor|V. niloticus]]'', ''[[West African Nile monitor|V. stellatus]]'')
''[[Empagusia]]''
*''V. bengalensis'' species complex (''[[Bengal monitor|V. bengalensis]]'', ''[[Clouded monitor|V. nebulosus]]'')
''[[Varanus (Soterosaurus)|Soterosaurus]]''
*''V. salvator'' species complex (''[[Asian water monitor|V. salvator]]'', ''[[Yellow-headed water monitor|V. cumingi]]'', ''[[Large-scaled water monitor|V. nuchalis]]'', ''[[Togian water monitor|V. togianus]]'', ''[[Marbled water monitor|V. marmoratus]]'')<ref>{{Cite journal|last=BÖHME|first=WOLFGANG|date=2003|title=Checklist of the living lizards of the world (family Varanidae)|journal= Zool. Verh. Leiden |volume=341|url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/46740}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Koch|first=Andre|date=2010|title=Updated checklist of the living monitor lizards of the world (Squamata: Varanidae)|journal=Bonn Zoological Bulletin|volume=57|pages=127–136}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Koch|first=Andre|date=2010-05-06|title=Unravelling The Underestimated Diversity Of Philippine Water Monitor Lizards (Squamata: Varanus Salvator Complex), With The Description Of Two New Species And A New Subspecies|journal=Zootaxa|volume=2446|pages=1–54|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2446.1.1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mendyk|first=Robert|date=2018|title=An Annotated Bibliography of Captive Reproduction in Monitor Lizards (Varanidae: Varanus). Part III. Soterosaurus|journal=Biawak|volume=12}}</ref>

The tree monitors of the ''V. prasinus'' species complex (''[[Emerald tree monitor|V. prasinus]]'', ''[[Black tree monitor|V. beccarii]]'', ''[[Golden-spotted tree monitor|V. boehmei]]'', ''[[Bogert's monitor|V. bogerti]]'', ''[[Canopy goanna|V. keithhornei]]'', ''[[Varanus kordensis|V. kordensis]]'', ''[[Varanus macraei|V. macraei]]'', ''[[Varanus reisingeri|V. reisingeri]]'', ''[[Varanus telenesetes|V. telenesetes]]'') were once in the subgenus ''Euprepriosaurus'', but as of 2016, form their own subgenus ''[[Hapturosaurus]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Weijola|first=Valter|date=2019-03-14|title=A molecular phylogeny for the Pacific monitor lizards (Varanus subgenus Euprepiosaurus) reveals a recent and rapid radiation with high levels of cryptic diversity|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=186|issue=4|pages=1053–1066|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz002}}</ref>

''[[Peach-throated monitor|V. jobiensis]]'' was once considered to be a member of the ''V. indicus'' species complex, but is now considered to represent its own species complex.<ref name=":3" />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
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Phylogeny as of Brennan ''et al.'' 2020 <ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brennan|first1=Ian G.|last2=Lemmon|first2=Alan R.|last3=Lemmon|first3=Emily Moriarty|last4=Portik|first4=Daniel M.|last5=Weijola|first5=Valter|last6=Welton|first6=Luke|last7=Donnellan|first7=Stephen C.|last8=Keogh|first8=J. Scott|date=2020-02-03|title=Phylogenomics of monitor lizards and the role of competition in dictating body size disparity|url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.02.931188v1|journal=bioRxiv|language=en|pages=2020.02.02.931188|doi=10.1101/2020.02.02.931188|s2cid=211297088}}</ref>
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|[[File:Varanus phylogeny as of Brennan et al 2020 (UPDATE 5).jpg|frameless|647x647px]]
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