the.com/monitor lizard
Dragon's smaller cousin, with a tongue that smells in stereo.
means A large, sharp-clawed lizard found across Africa, Asia, and Australia, built like a leftover dinosaur and equally alert.
from From Latin 'monere' — 'to warn' — via genus name Varanus relatives once dubbed 'monitor' lizards on the folk belief that they warned people of nearby crocodiles. The more likely root, though, is simpler: 'monitor' also just meant 'one who watches closely,' and these lizards, forever alert, forked tongues flicking to taste the air, earned the name by looking like they were keeping watch over everything.
- name origin
- thought to warn of nearby crocodiles
- venom
- many species are mildly venomous, discovered in 2005
- biggest member
- komodo dragon, up to 10 feet long
- tongue trick
- forked tongue senses direction of smells