A New Species ofVaranus(Reptilia: Sauria) from the Miocene of Kenya

Abstract

A new species of Varanus is described from the early Miocene (17.8 Ma) of Rusinga Island, Kenya. This is the earliest described appearance of the Varanidae in Africa and the oldest certain occurrence of the genus Varanus in the fossil record. Varanus rusingensis was a one to two meter-long lizard that probably favored riparian habitats in the lowland evergreen forest that covered much of western Kenya during the early Miocene. Tooth structure suggests that the Rusinga monitor fed extensively on molluscs as do several living species of Varanus.