Varanoidea is a superfamily of lizards, including the well-known family Varanidae (the monitors or goanna). Also included in the Varanoidea are such extinct marine and semi-aquatic forms as mosasaurs and dolichosaurs, the venomous helodermatids (Gila monsters and beaded lizards), the Lanthanotidae (earless monitor lizards), and the extinct Necrosauridae.Throughout their long evolutionary history, varanoids have exhibited great diversity, both in habitat and form.