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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Solomon Island Spiny Monitor

Varanus spinulosus Mertens, 1941

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Varanus spinulosus in captivity

Varanus spinulosus in captivity

Goodshort · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

Varanus spinulosus, known commonly as the Solomon Island spiny monitor, Isabel monitor, or spiny-neck monitor, is a species of monitor lizard. It is native to the Solomon Islands archipelago, which includes the main island chain of the Solomon Islands as well as Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea.

Wikipedia contributors, Varanus spinulosus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:52:20.091851+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Varanus spinulosus Mertens, 1941
Name authority
Mertens, 1941
Common name
Solomon Island Spiny Monitor
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Varanidae
Genus
Varanus
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
  9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
  10. suborderAutarchoglossa
  11. familyVaranidae
  12. genusVaranus
  13. speciesVaranus spinulosus Mertens, 1941

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Varanus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Kimberley Rock MonitorVaranus glauerti Mertens, 1957VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Varanus finschi Böhme, Horn & Ziegler, 1994VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Southern Pilbara Rock GoannaVaranus hamersleyensis Maryan, Oliver, Fitch & O'Connell, 2014VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Mitchell's Water MonitorVaranus mitchelli Mertens, 1958VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Varanus mabitang Gaulke & Curio, 2001VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Varanus nuchalis (Günther, 1872)VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Nesterov’s desert monitorVaranus nesterovi Böhme, Ehrlich, Milto, Orlov & Scholz, 2015VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Banggai Island monitorVaranus melinus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Blue Tree MonitorVaranus macraei Böhme & Jacobs, 2001VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Komodo DragonVaranus komodoensis Ouwens, 1912VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Varanus zugorum Böhme & Ziegler, 2005VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Yellow-spotted MonitorVaranus panoptes Storr, 1980VaranidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 51 records assigned to Varanidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Santa Isabel Island, San Jorge Islands (Solomon Islands), Papua New Guinea (Bougainville)

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Varanus&species=spinulosus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:7FFV9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.