Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) Fact Sheet: Taxonomy & History

Taxonomy

• Genus Varanus
  • Latinization of the Arabic word "waran," the Egyptian name for the Nile monitor
    • Egyptians believed these lizards served as "monitors," alerting people when crocodiles present
  • Genus name introduced in 1820 by German professor Blasius Merrem
• Approximately 50 Varanus species recognized
  • Similar in appearance
  • Body size varies greatly (from 0.32 m to 3.5 m)
    • Family Varanidae includes the largest living lizards
• 1912: first mention of Komodo dragon in scientific literature
  • Peter Owens, a Dutch zoologist, mentions a "Varanus species of an unusual size" from Komodo Island (Ouwens 1911)

Common Names

• Komodo Dragon
  • Named for one of the islands on which they are found (Komodo Island)
• "Ora"
  • Local name in the Mangarrai dialect
• Hindi name "biscobra"
  • Implies that this lizard is twice as deadly as a cobra
• Malaysian name "buaja darat"
  • Means land crocodile

• Oldest varanid lizard lineages
  • Fossils from 95 million years ago (Cretaceous)
  • Lived in Europe and Asia
  • Related to the early monosaurs and snakes
• Genus Varanus first recognized in the fossil record from about 34 million years ago (Egypt; Late Eocene) (Homes et al. 2010)
  • Indicates that varanid lizards dispersed from Africa to Europe, Asia, and Australia
• Varanus komodoensis evolved about 4 million years ago
  • Descended from Megalania prisca, a large Pleistocene lizard
• Inhabited Wallacean islands of eastern Indonesia 1 million years ago
• Once found across mainland Australia (Hocknull et al. 2009)
  • Disappeared from mainland Australia around 50,000 years ago (Hocknull et al. 2009)
    • Coincides with arrival of modern humans

Cultural attitudes towards Komodo dragon

(Sunkar et al. 2020)

• Varies among Indonesian islands
• On Komodo Island, regarded a cousin; treated with respect

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia (Laurenti, 1768) — reptiles

Order: Squamata (Oppel, 1811) — amphibians, lizards, snakes

Family: Varanidae — monitors, monitor lizards

Genus: Varanus (Merrem, 1820)

Species: Varanus komodoensis — Komodo dragon

Source: Integrated Taxnomic Information System (2017)

Ciofi (2004)
Green & King (1991)
Molnar (2004)
Molnar & Pianka (2004)
IBL Reptile Database (1997)
Zug (1993)