Megalania (the Giant Lizard dinosaur)

Megalania prisca, the largest terrestrial lizard known, was a giant goanna (monitor lizard). First described from the Darling Downs in Queensland by Sir Richard Owen in 1859, Megalania lived in a variety of eastern Australian Pleistocene habitats - open forests, woodlands and perhaps grasslands. Megalania would have been a formidable reptilian predator like its relative the Komodo Dragon of Indonesia, and may have eaten large mammals, snakes, other reptiles and birds.

Identification
Megalania prisca was an enormous monitor lizard - up to 5 metres long - with an unusual crest on its snout (a smaller but similar crest is also seen in the perentie, Varanus giganateus and in other Australian species). The teeth of Megalania were sharp and recurved with wrinkled, infolded enamel. Megalania had small bones (osteoderms) embedded in the skin of the snout and nape of the neck.

Its postcranial skeleton is poorly known, but its proportions were unlike those of other monitors. The humerus (upper arm bone) was unusually wide at its distal (far) end, unlike other varanids, where the distal end is about as wide as the proximal (near) end.

Habitat
Megalania lived in a broad range of Pleistocene habitats, including open forests, woodlands and perhaps grasslands. Fossils have been found in stream and river deposits as well as in caves. It was rare in all localities, and was probably not living on stream banks or in caves.

Distribution
Megalania was widely distributed across much of eastern Australia although complete fossils are rare. In Queensland, Megalania has been found at Bluff Downs and Wyandotte in the north, Marmor Quarry near Rockhampton on the south coast, and the Darling Downs in the southeastern of the state. In New South Wales, Megalania has been found at Cuddie Springs in north central NSW and at Wellington Caves, central NSW. Victorian Megalania fossils come from the southern coastal region. In South Australia, Megalania has been found in the arid Lake Eyre region (Warburton River, Cooper Creek and Lake Kanunka) and at Naracoorte Caves near the South Australian coast. Megalania is not yet known from Tasmania, Western Australia or New Guinea.