taxonID	type	description	language	source
DC2E20EA1B9D5FC7DFE6D21923719221.taxon	materials_examined	Other material. AMNH 85887 collected by John Gardiner in 1944, St Matthias Islands, Papua New Guinea.	en	Weijola, Valter, Donnellan, Stephen C., Lindqvist, Christer (2016): A new blue-tailed Monitor lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanusindicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys 568: 129-154, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872
DC2E20EA1B9D5FC7DFE6D21923719221.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet semotus is Latin for distant or remote and refers to the isolated occurrence on Mussau, separated by several hundred kilometers from its closest relatives. The term is employed as a masculine adjective.	en	Weijola, Valter, Donnellan, Stephen C., Lindqvist, Christer (2016): A new blue-tailed Monitor lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanusindicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys 568: 129-154, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872
DC2E20EA1B9D5FC7DFE6D21923719221.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Varanus semotus sp. n. is distinguished from all other species of Varanus by a combination of the following characters. (1) Tongue white / pinkish to pale yellow (white in preservative) occasionally with small patches of dark pigmentation, the yellow pigment concentrated along the mid-dorsal line and the dorsal surface of the tines (Fig. 2). (2) Gular region marbled in black and cream-white. (3) The tail of adult individuals is indistinctly banded on the distal half, with a varying degree of turquoise to bluish pigmentation on the distal 2 / 3. (4) Juveniles are black with white spots on the head, yellow and orange spots on the dorsum, and have well defined cream colored to pale greenish tail bands (Fig. 3 C). (5) The number of dorsal scales, XY, ranges from 149 to 153. (6) The number of midbody scale rows, S, ranges from 152 to 161. (7) The dorsum is black with single- and clustered groups of dispersed yellow / orange scales. (8) There are several complete rows of paryphasmata across the asulcal side of the hemipenis below the lobes. (9) Geographical distribution restricted to Mussau Island.	en	Weijola, Valter, Donnellan, Stephen C., Lindqvist, Christer (2016): A new blue-tailed Monitor lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanusindicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys 568: 129-154, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872
DC2E20EA1B9D5FC7DFE6D21923719221.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Varanus semotus is known so far only from Mussau, an island of 414 km 2 in the northern Bismarck Sea (Fig. 5). According to some of the locals on Mussau, monitors are absent from Emirau, the second largest island of the St. Matthias group, but this needs confirmation from fieldwork. It is also unknown whether this species occurs on the other two nearby islands Emananus and Eloaua.	en	Weijola, Valter, Donnellan, Stephen C., Lindqvist, Christer (2016): A new blue-tailed Monitor lizard (Reptilia, Squamata, Varanus) of the Varanusindicus group from Mussau Island, Papua New Guinea. ZooKeys 568: 129-154, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.568.6872
