Black Tree Monitor Varanus beccari

The Black Tree Monitor, also called Beccari's Monitor, is a small (for a monitor), fast, arboreal lizard native to Aru Island, New Guinea. It lives in trees in mangrove swamps.

Its particularly long, prehensile tail assists in securing it to tree branches, as do the especially long, clawed fingers which are also used to extract insects from crevices.

Adults are black but juveniles are greyer with rows of green spots.