Other "new" monitor species continue to be reported by natives in many
remote areas (sometimes also by people in populated areas). While
some of these may be subspecies of known species, I'm confident that some
of these may turn out to be legitimate species. For example: Varanus
jobiensis and V. doreanus were previously classified as subspecies
of V. indicus. For those who had kept them and seen them in the
wild, it is obvious that they are actually separate species. On any given
canoe trip in most rivers in Irian Jaya (most still have good habitat around
them), you can expect to see both V. indicus and V. doreanus
while V. jobiensis prefer drier rocky habitats. Varanus melinus
and Varanus yuwonoi will not be the last monitors from Indonesia
to be described.
ver. 17 Aug 2005