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Sand Goanna
Varanus gouldii
-24.7282, 150.978
Field Notes
Description:
..also known as Gould's monitor, the Sand monitor, or Racehorse Goanna.
The name goannas was given to Australian monitor lizards by the early European settlers. They thought our monitor lizards looked like the South American Iguanas.
Habitat:
Most goannas are rather large for a lizard, and they all have sharp teeth and long claws. Monitor lizards are predators.
They forage and hunt for lizards, snakes, insects, birds and eggs and even small mammals, and they often dig them out of their shelters and nests.
They're not fussy about what they eat, anything they can grab and overpower will do, and they also eat dead and rotting things.
Like snakes the goannas can unhinge their lower jaw to help them swallow bigger prey. It's impressive to see what size meals they can swallow whole. And if the food is there they will just keep eating. Watching them makes you think they must have bottomless guts. The two videos below illustrate that very well.
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