These lizards are found in Australia and the neighboring islands of Asia. Most of these are fairly large ground dwelling lizards and all are carnivorous. Monitors have well developed limbs and a long whiplike tail. They have an elongated body topped of with a long head and pointed snout. The monitors jaws are very, very powerful.
Many species do well in captivity, but successful breeding is pretty rare.
These lizards are distinguished by a collar of large scales on the underside of their necks. They have slender elongated bodies with a well defined head above a narrow neck, a long extendable tongue that is deeply forked, a long slender tail that can be shed, and thin toes. Typical lizards are hardy and easily kept in captivity though they move very quickly. The structure of their tail supports fast zigzag movements and very accurate jumps that are needed to catch their insect prey. They are all insectivores.