Many, see text. Monitor lizards are the family Varanidae, a group of lizards which includes the largest living lizard, the Komodo Dragon. Varanidae contains only a single genus: Varanus.

In Australia monitor lizards are known as goannas (See main article).

Origin of Name

It has been said that the name of monitor lizards is derived from a superstition that the creatures would give a warning about the presence of crocodiles. However, this explanation may be apocryphal. According to Wildwatch, the name actually resulted from a mishearing of the Arabic word oaran (lizard) as the German warnen (to warn), which was subsequently Latinized into monitor.

Classification

Genus Varanus

• Varanus acanthurus: Spiny-tailed goanna or Ridge-tailed monitor
• Varanus albigularis: White-throated monitor
• Varanus auffenbergi Peacock monitor
• Varanus baritji Northern ridge-tailed goanna
• Varanus beccarii Black tree monitor
• Varanus bengalensis Bengal monitor
• Varanus bogerti Louisiade tree monitor
• Varanus brevicauda Short-tailed monitor
• Varanus caerulivirens Blue pin-spot monitor
• Varanus caudolineatus Stripe-tailed goanna
• Varanus cerambonensis Ceram mangrove monitor
• Varanus doreanus Blue-tailed monitor
• Varanus dumerilii Rough-necked monitor
• Varanus eremius Desert pygmy monitor
• Varanus exanthematicus: Savannah monitor
• Varanus finschi Finsch's monitor
• Varanus flavescens: Yellow mangrove monitor
• Varanus giganteus: the Perentie
• Varanus gilleni Pygmy mulga goanna
• Varanus glauerti Kimberley rock monitor
• Varanus glebopalma Black-palmed rock monitor
• Varanus gouldii Sand goanna (also Gould's goanna, or Ground goanna)
• Varanus griseus Desert monitor
• Varanus indicus Mangrove monitor
• Varanus jobiensis Peach-throat monitor
• Varanus juxtindicus Hakoi
• Varanus keithhornei Canopy goanna
• Varanus kingorum King's goanna
• Varanus komodoensis: Komodo dragon
• Varanus mabitang Panay monitor
• Varanus macraei Blue tree monitor
• Varanus melinus Quince monitor
• Varanus mertensi: Mertens' water monitor
• Varanus mitchelli Mitchell's water monitor
• Varanus nebulosus Clouded monitor
• Varanus niloticus: Nile monitor
• Varanus olivaceus Gray's monitor, Butaan
• Varanus ornatus Ornate monitor
• Varanus panoptes ] ]
• Varanus pilbarensis Pilbara rock monitor
• Varanus prasinus: Emerald tree monitor
• Varanus primordius Blunt-spined goanna
• Varanus rosenbergi Rosenberg's goanna
• Varanus rudicollis: Roughneck monitor
• Varanus salvadorii: Crocodile monitor, Artrelia
• Varanus salvator: Water monitor
• Varanus scalaris Spotted tree goanna
• Varanus semiremex Mangrove pygmy goanna
• Varanus spenceri Spencer's goanna
• Varanus spinulosus St. Isabel mangrove monitor
• Varanus storri Storr's goanna
• Varanus telenesetes Lia (Biri), Rossel Island tree monitor
• Varanus timorensis: Timor tree monitor or Timor monitor
• Varanus tristis Black-headed tree goanna
• Varanus varius: Lace goanna
• Varanus yemenensis Yemen monitor
• Varanus yuwonoi Tricolor monitor