Ornate vs. "Ornate Nile"

[Varanophile]

Is it proper to call an Ornate Monitor (Varanus ornatus) an "Ornate Nile Monitor?"

Weren't these animals reclassifed into a new species distinct from the Nile?

Does anyone know when this occurred and what the distinguishing traits are?

Is there a difference in temperment?

[chuck911jeep]

the ornate have 3 to 5 light dot row on it's back and a pale tongue compare to the nile who have 6 to 9 rows. For the temperment, everyone tell they are the bad a$$ of monitor but the more i learn from them and the more i like both. I'm keeping paire of both right now so i will be able to tell more about those 2 pecies in a while. Steeve or Mark could help you more then me...

[mbayless]

Hi,
Yes I can help you with more detailed information on this. Wolfgang Bohme and Thomas Ziegler re-discribed V. ornatus as a full species in 1999; I was working on a similar paper but they beat me to it. In their paper they said the head was/is bulkier in an V. ornatus than in a V. niloticus of equal size, the tongue color is pink in V. ornatus and purple or sometimes purple/pink in V. niloticus. Hemipene structures are different in both, as is dietary preferences and habitat specifics, although the latter is more difficult to ascertain because animals of each species have been found within eye-shot of one another; in their primary forests, V. ornatus is more often found and V. niloticus seems more restricted to aquatic habitats where water is permanant/semi-permanant.

V. ornatus reach lengths of 6 feet and more, and V. niloticus reach lengths of 9 feet or more, according to older records of 100+ years ago, and the discovery and killing of a 7'11 1/4 foot 'female' V. niloticus a few years ago in Pretoria South Africa.

Cheers,
markb