Varanoid Lizards of the WorldErick Pianka, Dennis King, Ruth Allen King The large and impressive monitor lizard (genus Varanus) has attracted a great deal of interest. Despite being wary and difficult to observe, monitors have received an extraordinary amount of attention from devoted students. Varanoid Lizards of the World is a comprehensive account of virtually everything important that is known about monitor lizards, beginning with detailed species accounts and proceeding to various modern comparative analyses. Where possible, people who have had detailed field experience with a particular species have assembled the species accounts. In the process of reporting what is known, the book also identifies what remains to be learned about these lizards. This volume stands as a model for showing how such a diverse monophyletic group can be exploited both to identify and to understand the actual course of evolution. |
Contents
List of Contributors | xiii |
Ruth Allen King 9 Lawrence Close Darlington Western Australia | xvi |
The Long and Honorable History of Monitors and Their Kin RALPH E MOLNAR | xvi |
Philipp Zoologische Staatssammlung Münchhausenstraße | 21 |
Tim Schultz Faculty of Science Charles Darwin University Darwin | 34 |
Michael Stanner 67 Kehilat Warsha Street 69702 Tel Aviv Israel | 49 |
Biogeography and Phylogeny of Varanoids RALPH E MOLNAR and ERIC R PIANKA | 68 |
Tempo and Timing of the Australian Varanus Radiation W BRYAN JENNINGS | 77 |
Claudio Ciofi Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | 165 |
CLAUDIO CIOFI | 208 |
275 | 503 |
Other Varanoids | 516 |
Evolution of Body Size and Reproductive Tactics ERIC R PIANKA | 549 |
A Biological Technical and Legislative Problem | 556 |
Glossary | 571 |
| 577 | |