Monitor lizards (Varanus) are among the most iconic reptiles in the world and reach peak diversity in Australia, yet species diversity on the continent remains incompletely documented. We describe three new species of small-bodied, rock-adapted Varanus from north-eastern Australia (Varanus phosphoros sp. nov., Varanus iridis sp. nov., and Varanus umbra sp. nov.) that form a previously unrecognized and deeply divergent (∼7 Mya) clade within the subgenus Odatria. Despite their distinctive...