Varanidae
Family of lizards / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Varanidae are a family of lizards in the superfamily Varanoidea and order Anguimorpha. The family, a group of carnivorous and frugivorous lizards,[1] includes the living genus Varanus and a number of extinct genera more closely related to Varanus than to the earless monitor lizard (Lanthanotus).[2] Varanus includes the Komodo dragon (the largest living lizard), crocodile monitor, savannah monitor, the goannas of Australia and Southeast Asia, and various other species with a similarly distinctive appearance. Their closest living relatives are the earless monitor lizard and Chinese crocodile lizard.[3] The oldest members of the family are known from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.[2]
Varanids | |
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Male Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) fighting, Indonesia | |
Fossil of Saniwa, an extinct varanid known from the Eocene of North America | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Superfamily: | Varanoidea |
Family: | Varanidae Merrem, 1820 |
Genera | |
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