Varanus prisca

Megalania

One of the iconic Australian megafauna, this giant goanna was one of the continent’s apex predators during the Pleistocene. Estimates of the upper bounds of its size are still speculative and debated, but the most recent work suggets that Megalania could have reached up to 5.5 m in length with a maximum weight of 575 kg (about twice the size of a Komodo Dragon).  Notwithstanding the uncertainty of these estimates, Megalania was the largest land lizard ever known to have lived and would have been a formidable predator of medium and large animals. Like the extant Komodo Dragon, Megalania was probably venomous.

Skeletal element: vertebra
Specimen number: SAMA P25033
Geological age: Pleistocene
State/territory: South Australia
Locality/site: Cooper Creek

Skeletal element: vertebra
Specimen number: SAMA P13930
Geological age: Pleistocene
State/territory: South Australia
Locality/site: Warburton

Fry, B. G., Wroe, S., Teeuwisse, W., van Osch, M. J., Moreno, K., Ingle, J., … & Norman, J. A. (2009). A central role for venom in predation by Varanus komodoensis (Komodo Dragon) and the extinct giant Varanus (Megalania) priscus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(22), 8969-8974.