NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Rusty Desert Monitor
Varanus eremius Lucas & Frost, 1895
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.
Rusty Desert Monitor pictured at Taronga Zoo's Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Centre.
Felix Frost-Savage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The rusty desert monitor (Varanus eremius) is a species of small monitor lizards native to Australia. It is also known as the pygmy desert monitor. The monitor lizard belongs to the subgenus Odatria along with the pygmy mulga monitor. This monitor lizard is oviparous as with other monitor lizards.
Wikipedia contributors, Rusty desert monitor; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:57:53.309627+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Varanus eremius Lucas & Frost, 1895
- Name authority
- Lucas & Frost, 1895
- Common name
- Rusty Desert 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyVaranidae
- genusVaranus
- speciesVaranus eremius Lucas & Frost, 1895
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Varanus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Solomon Island Spiny MonitorVaranus spinulosus Mertens, 1941 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kimberley Rock MonitorVaranus glauerti Mertens, 1957 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Varanus finschi Böhme, Horn & Ziegler, 1994 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Southern Pilbara Rock GoannaVaranus hamersleyensis Maryan, Oliver, Fitch & O'Connell, 2014 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mitchell's Water MonitorVaranus mitchelli Mertens, 1958 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Varanus mabitang Gaulke & Curio, 2001 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Varanus nuchalis (Günther, 1872) | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nesterov’s desert monitorVaranus nesterovi Böhme, Ehrlich, Milto, Orlov & Scholz, 2015 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Banggai Island monitorVaranus melinus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blue Tree MonitorVaranus macraei Böhme & Jacobs, 2001 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Komodo DragonVaranus komodoensis Ouwens, 1912 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Varanus zugorum Böhme & Ziegler, 2005 | VaranidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Varanus&species=eremius 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:7FGDV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.