The emerald tree monitor (Varanus prasinus ) or green tree monitor, is a small to medium-sized arboreal monitor lizard. It is known for its unusual coloration, which consists of shades from green to turquoise, topped with dark, transverse dorsal banding. This coloration helps camouflage it in its arboreal habitat. Its color also makes the emerald tree monitor highly prized in both the pet trade and zoos alike.
The Emerald tree monitor is an arboreal lizard known for its unusual coloration, which consists of shades from green to turquoise, topped with dark, transverse dorsal banding. This coloration helps camouflage it in its arboreal habitat. Its color also makes the Emerald tree monitor highly prized in both the pet trade and zoos alike.
Emerald tree monitors can be found on the island of New Guinea (split between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) as well as several adjacent islands, and the northern Torres Strait Islands. They live in lowland environments, including tropical evergreen forests, palm swamps, and cocoa plantations.
Emerald tree monitors live in small groups made up of a dominant male, several females, and a few other males and juveniles. These monitors spend most of their lives in trees and rarely come down to the forest floor; their long slender bodies help them support themselves on narrow branches and they use their prehensile tails and long claws to grip branches. Emerald tree monitors are active during the day and catch prey in trees. When threatened, they will flee through vegetation or bite if cornered.
Emerald tree monitors have a carnivorous diet which consists of large tree-dwelling katydids, grasshoppers, stick insects, cockroaches, beetles, centipedes, spiders, and crabs. They will also hunt birds and small mammals.
Little is known about the mating system of Emerald tree monitors. Females lay three clutches throughout the year and consist of up to five eggs; each egg weighs 10.5-11.5 g (0.37-0.41 oz) and measures about 2 by 4.5 cm (0.79 by 1.77 in). Females lay their eggs in arboreal termite nests. The eggs hatch between 160 and 190 days later, typically from June to November, after which the young eat the termites and the termite's eggs within minutes of hatching. Young Emerald tree monitors usually become reproductively mature in about one year.
Emerald tree monitors don’t face any major threats at present.
According to IUCN Red List, the Emerald tree monitor is locally common and widespread throughout its range but no overall population estimate is available. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today remain stable.