Identification of sex in the alive desert monitor Varanus griseus (Reptilia, Sauria)

摘要

The most simple and available field method of identifying sex in desert monitor is a probing of the pockets located at the base of its tail. A relative depth of these pockets is much greater in adult males, but the maximal depth in females is smaller than minimal one in males. In juveniles the differences by this parameter have not been revealed. Geographical variability of the relative depth of pockets and a wide dispersion of values within each sexual group do not allow one to determine sex in a particular animal individual. This can be made only in measuring a large group of animals from the same region.