Here is a Mertens’ water monitor looking for prey

I really like lizards and one of my favourite species is Mertens’ water monitors.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. These sleek looking lizards grow up to 1 metre long.
2. Mertens’ water monitors have long powerful tails which helps them to become excellent swimmers.  They are never found far from water, where they catch frogs, fish and carrion.
3. When threatened, they drop into the water where they can hold their breath for a very long time.
4. They lay about 9-11 eggs in a burrow early in the dry season and the eggs hatch when the wet season starts.  The babies can swim and live independently from the moment they hatch.
5. Mertens’ water monitors are found across the top end of Australia and they are considered vulnerable due to the spread of the introduced poisonous cane toads which kill the monitors when they eat them.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about Mertens’ water monitor?