[1][2] Comprehensive molecular analyses of the group have demonstrated that animals previously assigned to "Varanus ornatus" do not constitute a valid taxon and are actually polymorphisms of two different species; Varanus stellatus (west African Nile monitor) and Varanus niloticus (Nile monitor).

[3] It was subsequently described as a separate species on the basis of reduced number of ocelli rows on the body, a light coloured tongue and a more massive build.

[4] More recent work based on a large sample size using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences indicates that Varanus ornatus is not a valid species and that animals with the diagnostic appearance belong either of two sister species of Nile monitor.

[1] Animals described as ornate monitor lizards are native to closed canopy forests in West and Middle Africa.

The number of ocelli bands on the body, four, or five, was supposed to distinguish V. ornatus from V. niloticus, which has from six to nine.