第 0629 號，共 1 402 號

Desert monitor

Varanus griseus

只是會痛會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

咬吃：肉

The desert monitor is a large lizard that lives across North Africa, Central Asia and parts of South Asia. It can grow to almost 2 metres long and hunts a wide range of animals, including snakes. Its bite can inject venom, which is why it is worth knowing about.1

分布在

North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-west India1

非洲, 亞洲

首頁

It lives in barren deserts with sand or clay soil, and sometimes in wooded areas. It digs burrows and stays in them during the middle of the day. It also uses road surfaces for basking and scavenging for roadkill.1

長度

2 m (6,6 ft)1

最高速度

大約 14 km/h（8,7 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

Its preferred prey is mice, eggs or fish, but it also eats other small mammals, reptiles (including other lizards, snakes and tortoises), birds, amphibians, insects, other invertebrates and carrion. It will take whatever food is available.1

Desert monitor 的照片 — Desert monitor。照片：unknown。 CC0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Body colour ranges from light brown and yellow to grey.1
Many have horizontal bands on the back or tail, and yellow spots across the back.1
Young lizards are bright orange with distinct bands across the back, which may fade as they mature.1
Nostrils are slits set farther back on the snout, closer to the eyes than the nose.1
Males are larger and more robust than females.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its bite can introduce venom through venom glands in the lower jaw. The venom has a neurotoxic effect, which attacks the nerves. In humans, symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, muscle pain, a fast heartbeat, difficulty breathing and diarrhoea. Symptoms can start within about 20 minutes and last around 24 hours, although itching at the bite area can last for at least two months.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When its body temperature is below 21 °C and it is chased by a predator, it will not run away. Instead it holds its ground and becomes extremely aggressive.1

如果牠咬人

清洗傷口，讓傷者保持冷靜，並且就醫。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 4 隻家貓從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 11 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長可以在 26 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類需要 9.6 秒）

Desert monitor 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

騎腳踏車的小朋友 大約 12 km/h (7,5 mph)

Desert monitor 大約 14 km/h (8,7 mph)

一個正在衝刺的人 大約 37 km/h (23 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Their running speed depends on body temperature. It rises from a little over 1 metre per second at 21 °C to around 3 metres per second at 37 °C.1

Desert monitors are good swimmers and divers, and they sometimes enter water to hunt for food.1

They can live in cold places. The species is present as far north as south-west Kazakhstan, which makes it one of the few monitor lizards that tolerate cold temperatures.1

In Morocco, many desert monitors die after climbing into concrete rainwater wells called matfias and becoming trapped.1

Some populations in the Indian subspecies do not truly hibernate. Instead they slow down, become lethargic and stop feeding from December to March.1

破解迷思

迷思： Only snakes, Gila monsters and beaded lizards have venom.

真相： Venom was once thought to be unique to these animals, but this is no longer the case. Venom glands are found in the lower jaws of most, if not all, monitor lizard species.1

給毒液專家

學名: Varanus griseus
類群: 有毒液的蜥蜴
家人: Varanidae2
排序: Squamata
各大洲: 非洲, 亞洲
寶寶: It lays 10 to 20 eggs in a clutch. The eggs hatch after an average of 120 days, and the babies are about 25 cm long at birth.1
壽命: 大約 8 年1
牠在野外的狀況: CITES Appendix I1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3