Megalnia prisca refers to the largest living lizards that went extinct some 40,000 years ago, as the aboriginals started inhabiting the continent. The sight of the lizard matched to that of modern day Komodo dragon found in Indonesia. The extinct species of lizards were named Megalania by Sir Richard Owen, which means great roamers. Megalania ate some large and small animals constituting pre historic Australian habitat. They are also said to be venomous. The lack of a complete or near complete fossilized skeleton of the lizard has made it difficult to figure out the weight and length of Megalania.
Ralph Molnar has done some extensive work to calculate their weight and size. The scientist calculated the length of dorsal vertebrae and the corresponding whole body lengths, making it possible to calculate the whole body length of giant lizards by the length of their dorsal vertebrae. He estimated their length to be in the range of 7.9 meters and total body weight in the range of 2000 KGs’.
Most interesting part of the Megalania story is that they are believed to have not been extinct. Rex Gilroy is confident that the specie has not gone extinct and would be spotted soon. Many people have either reported to have seen them or bitten by them in the previous century. Perhaps the most reliable testimony of these giant lizards being around came from Frank Gordon – a known Herpetologist who saw a 30 feet long lizard at the foot of a hill in New South Wales.
Megalania
Comments