巨蜥
巨蜥屬![]() 化石時期:中新世到現代
| |
---|---|
![]() | |
巨斑澤巨蜥 Varanus salvator macromaculatus | |
科學分類 ![]() | |
界: | 動物界 Animalia |
門: | 脊索動物門 Chordata |
綱: | 爬蟲綱 Reptilia |
目: | 有鱗目 Squamata |
科: | 巨蜥科 Varanidae |
屬: | 巨蜥屬 Varanus Merrem, 1820 |
模式種 | |
飾紋巨蜥 Varanus varius White, 1790
| |
亞屬 | |
巨蜥是巨蜥屬(學名:Varanus)的蜥蜴,包括了所有蜥蜴中最重的科莫多龍及最長的薩氏巨蜥。牠們的最近親是蛇蜥科及毒蜥屬。[1]
命名
巨蜥屬的學名是衍生自阿拉伯語的 「ورل」,意思是蜥蜴。[2]
特徵
巨蜥如其名都是體型巨大的,最短的也有0.8米長。牠們的頸長,尾巴及爪都很強壯,四肢發育良好。牠們大部份都是陸生的,也有棲息於樹上及半水生的。差不多所有巨蜥都是肉食性的,會吃哺乳類、鳥類、魚類、蛋、昆蟲類以及爬行類,只有葛氏巨蜥是吃果實的。[3]牠們是卵生的,每次生7-37隻蛋,牠們會將蛋埋在土中或藏在空心樹墩中。[4]
分佈
巨蜥屬的分佈範圍非常廣泛,屬下物種遍佈北非、西亞、中亞、南亞、東亞、東南亞和澳洲。
演化歷史
巨蜥的代謝率較高,有多種感官來捕獵獵物。研究發現巨蜥,包括科莫多龍有輕微的毒素(可使獵物流血不止,導致囋齒動物(但不是鳥類)立即癱瘓。在人類中,毒液會導致噁心和嘔吐、頭暈、最終全身肌肉疼痛、心跳加速、呼吸複雜和腹瀉,癥狀在短短20分鐘後出現,但在大約24小時後結束,儘管被咬區域的瘙癢可能至少持續2個月)。[1]由於蛇蜥科也是含有毒素,因而有學者認為所有有毒的蜥蜴及蛇是源自一個共同祖先,即Toxicofera演化支假說。[1]也有學者指蛇較為接近巨蜥,而多於其他現存的蜥蜴。後來這個理論被修改,將蛇改為鬣蜥亞目及蛇蜥亞目的姊妹分類。[1]
智商
巨蜥非常聰明,一些物種甚至可以數數。[6]在聖地牙哥動物園,一項研究將不同數目的蝸牛餵給非洲巨蜥,發現牠們可以數數到六。[6][7]尼羅河巨蜥是會合作覓食:一隻巨蜥會引開母鱷魚離開巢穴,其他的則進入吃鱷魚蛋。[6]作為餌誘的巨蜥之後會回來一同吃蛋。[6][7]在華盛頓史密森尼國家動物園(Smithsonian National Zoological Park)的科莫多龍可以辨認出動物園管理員,且似乎也有不同的性格。[7]
飼養
蜥是爬行類寵物市場的常客,當中普遍的是草原巨蜥,因為牠們體型細小、價廉,性格較為平靜。[2]尼羅河巨蜥、南非白喉巨蜥、澤巨蜥、紅樹巨蜥、翡翠巨蜥及科莫多龍都有被飼養繁殖。[2]飼養的巨蜥需要隱藏的地方及適合的基床。[2]籠內須有足以整條巨蜥進入的水池。[2]在野外,巨蜥會吃任何能夠駕馭的東西;但飼養下的會吃蟋蟀、超級麥皮蟲及齧齒目,有時也可以熟蛋、蠶、蚯蚓及餌魚。[2]不過,由於牠們依然具有掠食者本性及體型龐大,將牠們作為寵物也帶有危險性。
保育狀況
巨蜥屬是受到《瀕危野生動植物種國際貿易公約》附錄二的保護。在印度南部的泰米爾納德邦及其他部份,捕捉或殺死巨蜥是非法的。這些地區過往都有食用巨蜥物種的肉[8]。除了在印度南部,尼泊爾亦有人以巨蜥的肉作食用或醫藥用途[9]。在泰國、澳大利亞及西非亦曾聽聞有人食用巨蜥。
下屬物種
- 刺尾巨蜥 Varanus acanthurus Boulenger, 1885,棘尾巨蜥
- 非洲巨蜥 Varanus albigularis (Daudin, 1802),白喉巨蜥
- 孔雀巨蜥 Varanus auffenbergi Sprackland, 1999,奧氏巨蜥
- 邦貢巨蜥 Varanus bangonorum Welton, Travers, Siler & Brown, 2014[11]
- 白氏巨蜥 Varanus baritji King & Horner, 1987,懷氏巨蜥
- 黑珍珠巨蜥 Varanus beccarii (Doria, 1874)
- 孟加拉巨蜥 Varanus bengalensis (Daudin, 1802),貝氏巨蜥
- 孟加拉巨蜥指名亞種 Varanus bengalensis bengalensis
- 暗色巨蜥 Varanus bengalensis nebulosus:又名孟加拉巨蜥東部亞種。
- 班奈特巨蜥 Varanus bennetti Weijola, Vahtera, Koch, Schmitz & Kraus, 2020
- 埃塔巨蜥 Varanus bitatawa Welton, Siler, Bennett, Diesmos, Duya, Dugay, Rico, Van Weerd & Brown, 2010[12]
- 金點樹巨蜥 Varanus boehmei Jacobs, 2003,伯氏巨蜥
- 弗格森島巨蜥 Varanus bogerti Mertens, 1950,波氏巨蜥
- 短尾巨蜥 Varanus brevicauda Boulenger, 1898
- 布氏侏儒巨蜥 Varanus bushi Aplin, A. Fitch & D. King, 2006,布氏巨蜥
- 黯綠巨蜥 Varanus caerulivirens Ziegler, Böhme & Philipp, 1999
- 尾紋巨蜥 Varanus caudolineatus Boulenger, 1898,紋尾巨蜥
- 斯蘭安汶樹巨蜥 Varanus cerambonensis Philipp, Böhme & Ziegler, 1999,安汶巨蜥
- Varanus citrinus Pavón-Vázquez, Esquerré, Fitch, Maryan, Doughty, Donnellan & Scott Keogh, 2022[13]
- 寇氏巨蜥 Varanus colei Böhme, Jacobs, Koppetsch & Schmitz, 2019
- 庫氏巨蜥 Varanus cumingi Martin, 1839,肯氏巨蜥,原金頭澤巨蜥。
- 維氏巨蜥 Varanus dalubhasa Welton, Travers, Siler & Brown, 2014[11]
- 藍尾巨蜥 Varanus doreanus (Meyer, 1874),贈禮巨蜥,多氏巨蜥
- 普拉蘭巨蜥 Varanus douarrha (Lesson, 1830)[14]
- 杜氏巨蜥 Varanus dumerilii (Schlegel, 1839)
- 沙生巨蜥 Varanus eremius Lucas & Frost, 1895,沙漠巨蜥
- 草原巨蜥 Varanus exanthematicus (Bosc, 1792),多疣巨蜥
- 芬西樹巨蜥 Varanus finschi Böhme, Horn & Ziegler, 1994,芬氏巨蜥
- 黃巨蜥 Varanus flavescens (Hardwicke & Gray, 1827),漸黃巨蜥
- 眼斑巨蜥 Varanus giganteus (Gray, 1845),巨大巨蜥
- 吉蘭巨蜥 Varanus gilleni Lucas & Frost, 1895,吉氏巨蜥
- 長尾岩巨蜥 Varanus glauerti Mertens, 1957,格氏巨蜥
- 寬足巨蜥 Varanus glebopalma Mitchell, 1955,黑掌巨蜥
- 砂巨蜥 Varanus gouldii (Gray, 1838),高氏巨蜥
- Varanus gouldii horni Böhme, 1988,為Varanus panoptes subsp. horni Böhme, 1988的異名
- Varanus gouldii rubidus
- 沙漠巨蜥 Varanus griseus (Daudin, 1803),灰巨蜥,灰紋巨蜥
- 哈默斯利巨蜥 Varanus hamersleyensis Maryan, Oliver, Fitch & O'Connell, 2014[15]
- 紅樹巨蜥 Varanus indicus (Daudin, 1802),印度巨蜥
- 伊江巨蜥 Varanus irrawadicus Yang and Li
- 卡氏巨蜥 Varanus jobiensis Ahl, 1932,約比巨蜥
- 倫內爾島樹巨蜥 Varanus juxtindicus Böhme, Philipp & Ziegler, 2002,鄰印巨蜥
- 藍鼻巨蜥 Varanus keithhornei Wells & Wellington, 1985,凱氏巨蜥
- 國王巨蜥 Varanus kingorum Storr, 1980,金氏巨蜥
- 科莫多龍 Varanus komodoensis Ouwens, 1912,科摩多巨蜥
- 祖母綠樹巨蜥 Varanus kordensis (Meyer, 1874),科爾多巨蜥
- 利龍巨蜥 Varanus lirungensis Koch, Arida, Schmitz, Böhme & Ziegler, 2009,里朗巨蜥
- 班乃巨蜥 Varanus mabitang Gaulke & Curio, 2001,潘丹巨蜥
- 藍樹巨蜥 Varanus macraei Böhme & Jacobs, 2001,麥氏巨蜥
- 大理石水巨蜥 Varanus marmoratus (Wiegmann, 1934),石紋巨蜥
- 黃樹巨蜥 Varanus melinus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997,榲色巨蜥
- 莫頓巨蜥 Varanus mertensi Glauert, 1951,梅氏巨蜥
- 米卓氏水巨蜥 Varanus mitchelli Mertens, 1958,米氏巨蜥
- 朦朧巨蜥 Varanus nebulosus (Gray, 1831)
- 內氏巨蜥 Varanus nesterovi Böhme, Ehrlich, Milto, Orlov & Scholz, 2015
- 尼羅巨蜥 Varanus niloticus (Linnaeus in Hasselquist, 1762),尼羅河巨蜥
- 白頭水巨蜥 Varanus nuchalis (Günther, 1872),頸巨蜥
- 焰色巨蜥 Varanus obor Weijola & Sweet 2010
- 葛氏巨蜥 Varanus olivaceus Hallowell, 1856,橄綠巨蜥
- 華麗巨蜥 Varanus ornatus (Daudin, 1802),飾裝巨蜥
- 巴拉望巨蜥 Varanus palawanensis Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010
- 百眼巨蜥 Varanus panoptes Storr, 1980,潘氏巨蜥[16]
- 模式亞種 Varanus panoptes panoptes Storr, 1980
- 弘氏亞種 Varanus panoptes horni Böhme, 1988
- 深紅亞種 Varanus panoptes rubidus Storr, 1980
- 萬加里亞種 Varanus panoptes wanjarri Bennet, 2003
- 皮爾巴拉岩巨蜥 Varanus pilbarensis Storr, 1980,皮爾巴拉巨蜥
- 翡翠巨蜥 Varanus prasinus (Schlegel, 1839),蔥綠巨蜥
翡翠巨蜥。 - 北部鈍刺巨蜥 Varanus primordius Mertens, 1942,原初巨蜥
- 古巨蜥 Varanus priscus :已滅絕。
- 昆特氏樹巨蜥 Varanus rainerguentheri Ziegler, Böhme & Schmitz, 2007,瑞氏巨蜥
- 拉氏巨蜥 Varanus rasmusseni Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010
- 瑞氏樹巨蜥 Varanus reisingeri Eidenmüller & Wicker, 2005,亥氏巨蜥
- 黑砂巨蜥 Varanus rosenbergi Mertens, 1957,柔氏巨蜥
- 粗脖巨蜥 Varanus rudicollis (Gray, 1845),皺頸巨蜥
- 薩氏巨蜥 Varanus salvadorii
薩氏巨蜥。 - 澤巨蜥 Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768),救世主巨蜥
- 亞洲水巨蜥 Varanus salvator salvator (Laurenti, 1768),模式亞種
- 安達曼水巨蜥 Varanus salvator andamanensis Deraniyagala, 1944,安達曼亞種
- 雙帶水巨蜥 Varanus salvator bivittatus (Kuhl, 1820),雙紋亞種
- 黑水巨蜥 Varanus salvator komaini
- 巨斑澤巨蜥 Varanus salvator macromaculatus Deraniyagala, 1944,大斑亞種
- 齊氏亞種 Varanus salvator ziegleri Koch & Böhme, 2010
- 薩爾瓦多巨蜥 Varanus salvadorii (Peters & Doria, 1878),薩氏巨蜥
- 薩馬巨蜥 Varanus samarensis Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010
- 帶壯樹巨蜥 Varanus scalaris Mertens, 1941,梯紋巨蜥
- 銹色巨蜥 Varanus semiremex Peters, 1869,半翎巨蜥
- 偏遠巨蜥 Varanus semotus Weijola, Donnellan & Lindqvist, 2016[17]
- 近似巨蜥 Varanus similis Mertens, 1958
- 罕見巨蜥 Varanus sparnus Doughty, Kealley, Fitch & Donnellan, 2014[18]
- 史賓沙巨蜥 Varanus spenceri Lucas & Frost, 1903,斯氏巨蜥
- 所羅門龍骨巨蜥 Varanus spinulosus Mertens, 1941,多刺巨蜥
- 星斑巨蜥 Varanus stellatus (Daudin, 1802)
- 史東巨蜥 Varanus storri Mertens, 1966,思氏巨蜥
- Varanus tanimbar Weijola & Kraus, 2023[19]
- 羅素島巨蜥 Varanus telenesetes Sprackland, 1991,遠島巨蜥
- 帝汶巨蜥 Varanus timorensis (Gray, 1831)
- 塚本巨蜥 Varanus tsukamotoi (Kishida, 1929)
- 湯加水巨蜥 Varanus togianus (Peters, 1872),托吉安巨蜥
- 黑頭巨蜥 Varanus tristis (Schlegel, 1839), 黯巨蜥
- 模式亞種 Varanus tristis tristis (Schlegel, 1839)
- 雀斑巨蜥 Varanus tristis orientalis Fry, 1913,東部亞種
- 飾紋巨蜥 Varanus varius (Shaw, 1790),雜色巨蜥
- 也門巨蜥 Varanus yemenensis Böhme, Joger & Schätti, 1989
- 三色巨蜥 Varanus yuwonoi Harvey & Barker, 1998,尤氏巨蜥
- 銀樹巨蜥 Varanus zugorum Böhme & Ziegler, 2005,扎氏巨蜥
參考文獻
- ^ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fry, B.G.; Vidal, N; Norman J.A.; Vonk F.J.; Scheib, H.; Ramjan S.F.R; Kuruppu S.; Fung, K.; Hedges, B.; Richardson M.K.; Hodgson, W.C.; Ignjatovic, V.; Summerhays, R.; Kochva, E. Early evolution of the venom system in lizards and snakes. Nature. February 2006, 439: 584–8 [2009-08-26]. doi:10.1038/nature04328. (原始內容存檔於2009-04-19).
- ^ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Robert George Sprackland. Giant lizards. Neptune, NJ: T.F.H. Publications. 1992: 61. ISBN 0-86622-634-6.
- ^ Greene, Harry W. Diet and Arboreality in the Emerald Monitor, Varanus Prasinus, With Comments on the Study of Adaptation. Field Museum of Natural History. 1986. ISBN 9998057760.
- ^ Bauer, Aaron M. Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G. , 編. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. 1998: 157–159. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
- ^ Smith, Kerri. Dragon virgin births startle zoo keepers. Nature. [2006-12-20]. (原始內容存檔於2021-03-09).
- ^ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 King, Dennis & Green, Brian. Goannas: The Biology of Varanid Lizards. University of New South Wales Press. 1999: 43. ISBN 0-86840-456-X.
- ^ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pianka, E.R.; King, D.R. and King, R.A. Varanoid Lizards of the World. Indiana University Press. 2004.
- ^ Meats We Also Eat. The Telegraph India. 2017-01-08 [2018-08-12]. (原始內容存檔於2018-08-12) (英語).
- ^ Ghimire, H. R., Phuyal, S., & Shah, K. B. Protected species outside the protected areas: People's attitude, threats and conservation of the Yellow Monitor (Varanus flavescens) in the Far-western Lowlands of Nepal. Journal for Nature Conservation. 2014, 22 (6): 497–503. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2014.08.003.
- ^ Varanus Merrem, 1820. GBIF. [2023-06-07]. (原始內容存檔於2023-05-31).
- ^ 11.0 11.1 Welton, Luke J., Scott L. Travers, Cameron D. Siler & Rafe M. Brown. 2014. Integrative Taxonomy and Phylogeny-based Species Delimitation of Philippine Water Monitor Lizards (Varanus salvator Complex) with Descriptions of Two New Cryptic Species. Zootaxa. 3881(3); 201–227. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3881.3.1
- ^ Luke J. Welton, Cameron D. Siler, Daniel Bennett, Arvin Diesmos, M. Roy Duya, Roldan Dugay, Edmund Leo B. Rico, Merlijn Van Weerd and Rafe M. Brown. 2010. A Spectacular New Philippine Monitor Lizard reveals a Hidden Biogeographic Boundary and a Novel Flagship Species for Conservation. Biology Letters. 6 (5): 654–658. doi: dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0119.
- ^ Carlos J. Pavón-Vázquez, Damien Esquerré, Alison J. Fitch, Brad Maryan, Paul Doughty, Stephen C. Donnellan and J. Scott Keogh. 2022. Between A Rock and A Dry Place: Phylogenomics, Biogeography, and Systematics of Ridge-tailed Monitors (Squamata: Varanidae: Varanus acanthurus complex). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. In Press, 107516. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107516
- ^ Valter Weijola, Fred Kraus, Varpu Vahtera, Christer Lindqvist and Stephen C. Donnellan. 2017. Reinstatement of Varanus douarrha Lesson, 1830 As A Valid Species with Comments on the Zoogeography of Monitor Lizards (Squamata : Varanidae) in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. Australian Journal of Zoology. DOI: 10.1071/ZO16038
- ^ Maryan B, Oliver PM, Fitch AJ and O'Connell M. 2014. Molecular and Morphological Assessment of Varanus pilbarensis (Squamata: Varanidae), with a description of a new species from the southern Pilbara, Western Australia. Zootaxa. 3768(2): 139-158.
- ^ J. Sean Doody, Hugh James, Kim Colyvas, Colin R. Mchenry and Simon Clulow. 2015. Deep Nesting in A Lizard, Déjà Vu Devil's Corkscrews: First Helical Reptile Burrow and Deepest Vertebrate Nest. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. DOI: 10.1111/bij.12589
- ^ Valter Weijola, Stephen Donnellan and Christer Lindqvist. 2016. A New Blue-tailed Monitor Lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanus indicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys. 568: 129-154. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.568.6872
- ^ Paul Doughty, Luke Kealley, Alison Fitch and Stephen C. Donnellan. 2014. A New Diminutive Species of Varanus from the Dampier Peninsula, western Kimberley region, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum. 29 128–140.
- ^ Valter Weijola and Fred Kraus. 2023. Two New Species of Monitor Lizards (Squamata: Varanus) endemic to the Louisiade and Tanimbar Archipelagos with A Key to the Subgenus Euprepiosaurus. Journal of Natural History. 57(13-16); 947-975. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2023.2218574
外部連結
|
|