Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Scott W]

Some of you will of heard of Varanus olivaceus, this is a link to the first video showing it eating fruit in the wild, nice background music too

video here - http://www.mampam.com//butaan1.wmv

Check out http://www.mampam.com for a great conservation website.
_________________

Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[JStroud]

Weird, I know of a Nile that had been fed fruit almost on a weekly basis. Is there no other recorded observations of other spp. eating fruit?
_________________
Regards James Stroud

[arborgoanna]

Other than V. olivaceus, there also exists V. mabitang; also from the Philippines, which is frugivorous, and is a sister taxa of V. olivaceus; both belonging to the subgenus Philippinosaurus. A third frugivorous species has been discovered from the same general region(Philippines- the specific island/s or region I cannot recall), which Daniel is currently working on a description of, if I am not mistaken, for the next installment of Mertensiella, which will contain all of the manuscripts presented at the Varanid Symposium held in Bonn, Germany this past October.

I have heard accounts of V. glauerti and V. prasinus both eating fruit offered to them in captivity, however I have not heard of any accounts of these animals consuming plant matter out in the wild. Gut content analysis of virtually all species(except the larger species) usually suggests an insectivorous diet.

Daniel posted that clip on my websits as well as a few others a couple of weeks ago, and might I say, that is some absolutely stunning videography!! I wish there existed some foraging/feeding behavior footage of V. prasinus, or V. salvadorii, or other illusive, dense-forest dwellers alike.

Cheers folks,

Bob

[JStroud]

Very interesting
_________________
Regards James Stroud

[Gazz]

Is it fruit/what type ? or some sort of tropical flower ? looks full of holes/hollow tubes like some sort of flower.Could be a flower that smells of rotting flesh or something to atracked flys to pollinate it. the smell could be that convinceing that it fools the monitor into eating it ?.Has this been considered ?.

[arborgoanna]

I believe that is a species of Pandanus fruit- to which species I am not sure, perhaps P. radicans-the species which V. olivaceus has been known to favor according to Auffenberg's study on them. There are over 600 species of Pandanus( also known as Screw Pines), so it's anybody's guess(many of these species are very difficult to differentiate between, relying only on differences in flowers).

The large main structure that you see dangling once contained many flowers. Once the flowers were pollinated, the flowers themselves fell off, leaving behind the fertilized ovum to develop into the fruit that is seen, which the monitor is feeding on. Whether the fruit are fully developed/ripe, I don't know, but those are fruits that the lizard is feeding on, not flowers.

To my knowledge, Pandanus flowers and fruit do not have a rotting flesh smell to them, like the Corpse Flower(Amorphophallus titanum). As for the significance/reason why obligate frugivory developed in adult V. olivaceus, I don't think anybody knows. There is much work that needs to be done regarding their ecology; it's good to see that Daniel is making some ground over there on Polillo. Keep up the good work Daniel!

Cheers,
Bob

here are some images of some other Pandanus species and fruits.. I was unable to find any of P. radicans, but from what I have gathered, members of the group are rather similar to one another.