Comprehensive account of current knowledge about monitor lizards, beginning with detailed species accounts and proceeding to various modern comparative analyses. In the process of reporting what is known, the book also identifies what remains to be learned about these lizards. This volume stands as a model for showing how a diverse monophyletic group can be exploited both to identify and to understand the course of evolution.
Dedication; List of Contributors; AcknowledgmentsPart I.1. Introduction Eric R. Pianka and Dennis R. King; 2. The long and honorable history of monitors, and their kin Ralph E. Molnar; 3. Phylogeny and Biogeography Ralph E. Molnar and Eric R. PiankaPart II. Species Accounts4. African Varanid Species; 5. Asian Varanid Species; 6. Australian Varanid Species; 7. Other VaranoidsPart III.8. Evolution of Body Size and Reproductive Tactics Eric R. Pianka; 9. Keeping Monitors in Captivity: A Biological, Technical and Legislative Problem Hans-Georg HornGlossary; References; Index