Varanus panoptes
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The yellow-spotted monitor (Varanus panoptes), also known as the Argus monitor, is a monitor lizard found in northern and western regions of Australia and southern New Guinea. The first description of the species was provided in a revision of the varanids of Western Australia, where the family is represented by diverse taxa in a wide variety of habitats. Early collections and descriptions of the region's species have historically been uncertain, leading the ICZN to issue an opinion that related to this taxon. A third subspecies was published in 1988, based on specimens from southern New Guinea. The describing author discovered that the specimen selected as the lectotype of Varanus gouldii was in fact assignable to this species, recently described by reptile specialist Glenn Storr. By issuing an opinion on the various taxonomic considerations, the voting members conserved the name published with John Edward Gray's description and stabilised the nomenclature of this species name.
The epithet panoptes was inspired by a mythological figure with one hundred eyes, the protector of Princess Io named Argus Panoptes. The species may be referred to as the floodplains goanna in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Denver Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Safari Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Guadalajara Zoo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Zoo La Barben | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Cleland Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Safari Masai Mara | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 10 | Touroparc Zoo | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 11 | Rainforestation Nature Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Alligator Bay | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Bali Bird Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 14 | Rodbaston Animal Zone | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 15 | Exotarium Sosnowiec | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 16 | Reptilia | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Argus Monitor sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 54 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Argus Monitor in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 20% in August, the lowest month. That is one of Kakadu National Park's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain against almost none in August.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Argus Monitor sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Kakadu National Park, in our data
Kakadu National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Argus Monitor sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Varanus
The closest relatives of the Argus Monitor that you can see in Kakadu National Park (genus Varanus, Monitor Lizards) are Mertens's Water Monitor (about 30%), Black-headed Monitor (about 20%) and Gould's Goanna (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Argus Monitor is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Kakadu National Park (33 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
