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.