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A goanna features as the heroic figure Mr Lizard in the Australian author May Gibbs’ children's books Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. A bronze statue of the goanna Mr Lizard has been placed outside the State Library of Victoria. The villain in the Disney film The Rescuers Down Under, Percival C. McLeach, has a pet goanna named Joanna.
The specific name, mitchelli, as well as the common name, Mitchell's water monitor, are in honor of Australian herpetologist Francis John Mitchell (1929–1970) of the South Australian Museum. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] The classification Varanus is a Latinization of the Arabic word for monitor lizard, waran . [ 7 ]
The lace monitor (Varanus varius), also known as the tree goanna, is a member of the monitor lizard family native to eastern Australia. A large lizard, it can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in total length and 14 kilograms (31 lb) in weight.
The term Australian megafauna ... non-climate-related changes in vegetation and in the diet of surviving marsupial species. ... The largest extant goanna is the ...
Spencer's goanna has unusual defensive behaviour, where it feigns death when threatened; the body is flattened against the ground, one hind limb is extended while all other limbs held close to the body, and the tail is contorted into a wavy shape. The head is kept up to observe the threat, feigning death until the threat has left the area.
Perenties are the largest living species of lizard in Australia. Perenties can grow to lengths of 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) and weigh up to 20 kg (44 lb), possibly up to 3 m (9 ft 10 in) and 40 kg (88 lb), making it the fourth-largest extant species of lizard (exceeded in size only by the Komodo dragon , Asian water monitor and crocodile monitor ).
Other animals, for example, jimba (sheep), emu, goanna and witchetty grubs, are eaten by Aboriginal Australians. Fish and shellfish are culinary features of the Australian coastal communities. Examples of Australian native plant foods include the fruits quandong, kutjera, muntries, riberry, Davidson's plum, and finger lime.
The sand goanna (Varanus gouldii), also known commonly as Gould's monitor, the racehorse goanna, and the sand monitor, is a species of large Australian monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. [ 4 ] Taxonomy