Australian giant monitor or Megalania was a very large goanna or monitor lizard. It was part of a megafaunal assemblage that inhabited southern Australia during the Pleistocene. It seems to have disappeared around 40,000 years ago. It has various names: Burrunjor (in Northern Territory), Mungoon-galli, Murra murri (in the Blue Mountains), Whowie (in Riverina) with physical description: Length, 20–30 feet or more. The distribution of this creature around Northern New South Wales; Arnhem Land, Northern Territory; Cape York, Queensland. Significant sightings of the similar creature occurred in 1975, a group of bushwalkers claimed they found large tracks and tail marks at the edge of the Wallangambe Wilderness in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.
On December 27, 1975, a farmer near Cessnock, New South Wales, saw a bulky, 30-foot monitor lizard moving through scrub brush. It was mottled gray in color, with dark stripes long the back and tail, and stood 3 feet off the ground.
In early 1979, herpetologist Frank Gordon was driving his Land Rover in the Wattagan Mountains in New South Wales south of Canberra when he saw a reptile 27–30 feet long by the side of the road. It rose up and ran away on all four legs into the neighboring woods.
In July 1979, cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy was called to a freshly plowed field by a farmer. Across the field were thirty or so tracks that seemed to have been made by an enormous lizard. While most of the tracks had been ruined by rain, Gilroy was able to make a plaster cast of one that had been preserved.
Possible explanations:
The Perentie (Varanus giganteus), Australia’s largest lizard, grows to 8 feet long; some individuals might attain 10 feet. It is cream-colored, with dark-brown speckles, and it occurs from western Queensland to the coast of Western Australia.
Australian Giant Monitor seen in 1979 by herpetologist Frank Gordon in the Wattagan Mountains, New South Wales.
On December 27, 1975, a farmer near Cessnock, New South Wales, saw a bulky, 30-foot monitor lizard moving through scrub brush. It was mottled gray in color, with dark stripes long the back and tail, and stood 3 feet off the ground.
In early 1979, herpetologist Frank Gordon was driving his Land Rover in the Wattagan Mountains in New South Wales south of Canberra when he saw a reptile 27–30 feet long by the side of the road. It rose up and ran away on all four legs into the neighboring woods.
In July 1979, cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy was called to a freshly plowed field by a farmer. Across the field were thirty or so tracks that seemed to have been made by an enormous lizard. While most of the tracks had been ruined by rain, Gilroy was able to make a plaster cast of one that had been preserved.
Possible explanations:
The Perentie (Varanus giganteus), Australia’s largest lizard, grows to 8 feet long; some individuals might attain 10 feet. It is cream-colored, with dark-brown speckles, and it occurs from western Queensland to the coast of Western Australia.
Surviving Megalania prisca, a 15- to 21-foot lizard that lived in central Australia in the Pliocene and Pleistocene (2 million–20,000 years ago). At 1,300 pounds, it weighed ten times as much as the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and was probably an active predator and scavenger. Its teeth were nearly 1 inch long. At least some specimens had a sagittal crest.
While there are occasional reports from Australia and New Guinea of giant lizards similar to the megalania, these reports only began after the species was first described and became publicly known. There is no credible scientific evidence of the existence of a surviving population.
Sources:
Mysterious Creatures: "A Guide to Cryptozoology" by George M. Eberhart;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalania
Pic Source:
Mysterious Creatures: "A Guide to Cryptozoology" by George M. Eberhart page 27
While there are occasional reports from Australia and New Guinea of giant lizards similar to the megalania, these reports only began after the species was first described and became publicly known. There is no credible scientific evidence of the existence of a surviving population.
Sources:
Mysterious Creatures: "A Guide to Cryptozoology" by George M. Eberhart;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalania
Pic Source:
Mysterious Creatures: "A Guide to Cryptozoology" by George M. Eberhart page 27
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