The Varanidae were defined (using morphological characteristics) by Estes,
de Queiroz and
Gauthier (1988) as the clade containing the most recent common ancestor of
Lanthanotus and
Varanus and all of its descendants. A similar definition was formulated by Conrad
et al. (2008) (also using morphological data), who defined the Varanidae as the clade containing
Varanus varius,
Lanthanotus borneensis, and all descendants of their last common ancestor. Using one of these definitions leads to the inclusion of the earless monitor lizard (
L. borneensis) in the family Varanidae. Lee (1997) created a different definition of the Varanidae, defining them as the clade containing
Varanus and all taxa more closely related to
Varanus than to
Lanthanotus; this definition explicitly excludes the
earless monitor lizard from the Varanidae. Whether
L. borneensis is included in or excluded from the Varanidae depends on the author; for example, Vidal
et al. (2012) classify the earless monitor lizard as a member of a separate family
Lanthanotidae, while Gauthier
et al. (2012) classify it as a member of Varanidae.
Genera :Genera marked with are
extinct Genera included in Varanidae according to Dong
et al., 2022 (Mongolia, Late Cretaceous) •
Aiolosaurus Gao and Norell, 2000 (Mongolia, Late Cretaceous) •
Cherminotus Borsuk-Bialynicka, 1984 (Mongolia, Late Cretaceous) •
Saniwides Borsuk-Bialynicka, 1984 (Mongolia, Late Cretaceous) •
Paravaranus Borsuk-Bialynicka, 1984 (Mongolia, Late Cretaceous) •
Proplatynotia Borsuk-Bialynicka, 1984 (Mongolia, Late Cretaceous) •
Telmasaurus Gilmore, 1943 (Mongolia, Late Cretaceous) •
Saniwa Leidy, 1870 (Europe, North America,
Eocene) •
Archaeovaranus Dong
et al., 2022 (China, Eocene) •
Varanus Shaw, 1790
Phylogeny Below is a
cladogram from Dong et al. 2022. ==Biology==