Skip to main content

Common water monitor (Varanus salvator)

Biawak or common water monitor (Varanus salvator) is a species of animal in Varanidae, large lizards that live near freshwater and mangrove forests, semi-aquatic, good swimmers with paddle tails, strong jaws, sharp hoofed legs, adapt and thrive in local areas farms and cities with canal systems for elevations below 1000 meters.

V. salvator has a length of 1.5-2 meters and weighs up to 20 kg as the second heaviest lizard in the world after the Komodo dragon. A muscular body with a long, strong and paddle tail. The scales on the keel and on the head are larger than those on the back.

Dlium Common water monitor (Varanus salvator)


Commonly brown or blackish in color with a yellow spot on the underside and tends to disappear gradually with age. The band extends from each eye and back over each edge of the back, upper tail and upper legs.

Very long neck, elongated muzzle, powerful jaw, serrated teeth and fingertips ending with sharp claws that can be used to climb trees. Long tail, shaped like a paddle, black with yellow rings and pointed tip.

Common water monitors have a semi-aquatic lifestyle inhabiting various natural habitats in primary forests and mangrove swamps. Adapt and develop in vegetated rivers in agricultural areas and cities with canal systems.

Biawak defends itself using its tail, claws and jaws. Carnivores that eat a wide variety of prey including fish, frogs, rodents, birds, crabs, snakes, turtles, young crocodiles and crocodile eggs. They eat by tearing open chunks of meat with sharp teeth while holding them with their forelegs.





Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Family: Varanidae
Genus: Varanus
Species: Varanus salvator
Subspecies: Varanus salvator ssp. andamanensis, Varanus salvator ssp. bivittatus, Varanus salvator ssp. macromaculatus, Varanus salvator ssp. salvator, Varanus salvator ssp. ziegleri

Popular Posts

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)

Guinea grass or buffalo grass or green panic ( Panicum maximum ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grasses, growing upright to form clumps, strong, cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions for very high value as fodder. P. maximum reproduces in very large pols, fibrous roots penetrate into the soil, upright stems, green, 1-1.5 m tall and have smooth cavities for diameters up to 2.5 mm. Propagation is done vegetatively and generatively. Ribbon-shaped leaves with a pointed tip, very many, built in lines, green, 40-105 cm long, 10-30 mm wide, erect, branched, a white linear bone, often covered with a layer of white wax, rough surface by hair short, dense and spread. The flower grows at the end of a long and upright stalk, open with the main axis length to more than 25 cm and the length of the bunches down to 20 cm. Grains have a size of 3x4 mm and oval. Seeds have a length of 2.25-2.50 mm and each 1 kg contains 1.2 - 1.5 million seeds. Guinea grass has two varieties. P...

Longfol edelweiss (Anaphalis longifolia)

Longfol edelweiss ( Anaphalis longifolia ) is a plant species in Asteraceae, everlasting shrub, upright, woody and branched, up to 10 meters high and 1 meter in diameter, 20 cm in height every 13 years, ribbon-shaped leaves and longer than other species in the genus and grows in the tropics at an altitude of 800-1600 m. A. longifolia has a single root with fibers forming branches. Cylindrical stems, upright, at each point grow many branches in a circle in all directions, branches up. The bark is thin, rough, brownish green and is easy to peel off. Ribbon-shaped single leaf, 12-20 cm long, 0.5-1.0 cm wide, drooping or divergent growth pattern, thin, hairy and white waxy, spreading out or facing, having a midrib, a linear walking bone, thickened edge, the upper surface is green and the lower surface is whitish. The flowers grow at the tip of the stem in a capitulum with many florets, sitting together surrounded by involucrum, each consisting of 5-6 flower heads, yellow, 5 mm wide, s...

Indian shot (Canna indica)

Puspa midra or Indian shot ( Canna indica ) is is plant species in Cannaceae, annual, shrub 0.5-2.5 meters high, depending on variety, erect stems, unbranched and leaf midrib arranged overlapping to form pseudostems and hermaphrodite flowers. C. indica forms a branched rhizome, 60 cm long which is divided into rounded segments and is covered in two stripes by pale green or purple scaly leaves. The rhizome has tubers that contain very large starch grains. The surface has transverse furrows, the underside appears white roots and numerous shoots. The leaves sit alternate and spiral or arranged in two rows, very large and divided into a leaf midrib, short stalk and blade. The strands are 30-60 cm long, 10-20 cm wide and have linear veins, green or purple-green, the base blunt or narrowly pointed and the apex immediately tapering or sharp. Hermaphrodite flowers, pedicels 0.2-1 cm long and red or yellow-orange, except in some cultivars 4.5-7.5 cm long. The sepals are triangular in shape a...