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The Behavioural Ecology of the Komodo Monitor

Article  in  Journal of Animal Ecology · October 1982

DOI: 10.2307/4019

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The Behavioural Ecology of the Komodo Monitor by Walter Affenberg
Review by: I. R. Swingland
Journal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Oct., 1982), p. 1017
Published by: British Ecological Society
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 Journal of Animal Ecology (1982), 51, 1017-1022

REVIEWS

Walter Affenberg (1981). The Behavioural Ecology of the Komodo Monitor. Pp. 406;
photographs,text-figures.University Presses of Florida, Gainesville. Price $45.
The KomodoDragon(Varamiskomodoensis)is the world'slargestlivinglizard,beingup to 3 m
long and reachinga maximumweightof 54 kg. They are reputedto be ableto kill a man with a
singlesweepof theirmassivetail, catch and kill young deer,wild pigs and wildhorsesand are so
voraciousthat they attackand devourtheirown kindas well as the deadbodiesof otheranimals.
Sincetheirdiscoveryin 1912 an enormousamounthas beenwrittenabouttheirfeatsbutwithvery
little substantialresearchto back up the exaggerationsand misinformation. This is what Walter
Auffenbergset out to rectifyin his 13-monthstudyfrom 1969to 1971whichdetailswithgreatcare
anddelightfulthumb-nailsketchesnearlyeveryaspectof thesecharismaticbeasts.
Auffenbergcoversall the majoraspectsof the biologyof this species;morphology,distribution,
ecology, activity, movement, individualbehaviour, demography,reproduction,scavenging,
predation,social behaviourand conservation.He admits that in some areas like physiology,
demographyand reproduction, data are sparsebecausepopulationdensityis low, individualrange
is largeandmonitorsaredifficultto spot.He mightalsohaveaddedthattheirlongevity(c. 20 years)
is anotherhandicap.Nevertheless,thisis a veryvaluablebaselinestudywhichwillbe of use not only
to futurefieldworkerson the Komodomonitorbut alsoto otherautecologistsandthoseworkingon
largeanimalecology.
In the finalchapterAuffenbergconsidersthe conservationof this lizard.Populationsarelarger,
and theirdistributiongreater,than previouslysupposedand althoughthereis littleprobabilityof
extinctiontheirsmallgeographicrangemay tendto makethemvulnerable.In termsof 'harvesting'
he recommendsthat sufficientbreedingstock is maintainedby licensesbeingissuedto providea
substantialyieldandthatindividualsaretakenin proportionto theirlocal density.His suggestions
indicatethe needfor a long-termresearchprogrammeto providethe necessarydataandto monitor
the population.His workprovidesan excellentstartingpointfor any futureresearchandrankswith
the bestbookson single-species largeanimalstudies.
I. R. SWINGLAND

L. C. Beadle (1981). The Inland Waters of Tropical Africa. An Introduction to Tropical

Limnology. Second edition. Pp. x + 475. Longman, London and New York. Price
?22.50.
It is a pleasureto welcomethis secondeditionof a book alreadyuniquein its first,1974,edition.Its
aims areunchanged:'to presentin outlinewhatcan reasonablybe inferredfromthe evidenceof the
originandhistoryof the tropicalAfricaninlandwatersandtheirfaunasandfloras,to describewhat
is knownof the cycles of eventsin the differentwatersystems,particularlyin relationto organic
production,to discusssomeinterestingscientificproblemsraised,andto indicatethe importanceof
these watersto the peoplesof the area'(p. 395). The descriptivebackgroundfamiliarin regional
surveys is blendedwith comparisonand interpretationagainstgeneralprinciples.Accounts of
individualwater-bodies,includingrivers,make up ten of the twenty-onechapters;two further
chaptersdealwithswampsandwithtemporary,salineandthermalwaters.Fivechaptersdiscuss,in
the African context, more generalecological topics: productivityrelationships,mineralcom-
primaryproduction,andevolutionand distribution
position,watercirculationand stratification, of
the aquaticfauna.Historicalperspectivesare providedin two chapterson geologicalplus climatic
backgroundand on the comparativelyrecentphase of scientificexploration.Personalcomment,
oftencriticalandchallenging,appearsin theintroductoryandfinalchapters.
Thereare substantialadditionsand changesin the new edition.In general,newworkup to 1978
or 1979 is incorporated,and the authorhas used his extensivecontactsto includesome valuable
material(e.g. the recent survey of Lake Turkana)not yet formallypublished.However the
treatmentof at least one topic involvingimportantrecentevents,the Haplochromisfisheryof Lake
Victoria(pp. 265-266), is essentiallyunalteredfromthe firstedition.In manyplacesthe exposition
is improvedby a reworkingof detailand the inclusionof new figures.On a largerscale, extra
1017

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