Ancient monitor lizard: the super reptile that died at the hands of humans

Speaking of reptiles, the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind is definitely lizards, and monitor lizards are the big guys in the lizard family. The largest lizard today is the famous Komodo dragon. With a body length of 3 meters and a weight of 70 kilograms, it is already the leader among lizards. However, just tens of thousands of years ago, there once lived in Australia a giant lizard much larger than the Komodo dragon, which was the ancient monitor lizard.

Australian giant reptile

Legend: Australia and the Australian flag. Australia is a magical continent floating in the southern ocean. The picture comes from the Internet.

Australia is a magical continent located in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. It was already modern when Europeans arrived. In people’s eyes, Australia seems to be a world lacking giant animals, but this is not the case. When people discovered more and more giant fossils in Australia, they finally understood that many giant creatures also lived in Australia in the not-too-distant past.

In 1859, a batch of fossils from Australia were shipped to London, England, and these fossils were studied by the famous scholar Richard Owen. Based on some vertebrae, Owen established the genus Megalania , meaning “ancient giant wanderer.”

In 1888, paleontologist Richard Lydekker studied the fossils of the ancient monitor lizard and believed that it belonged to the known genus Varanus priscus . However, the name of the ancient monitor lizard was retained and became An informal name. The ancient monitor lizard appeared 1.5 million years ago and became extinct 40,000 years ago. It belongs to the genus Monitor and is closely related to the famous Komodo dragon.

largest lizard

Legend: The ancient monitor lizards are huge creatures, and humans are just tiny in front of them. The picture comes from the Internet

Compared with the Komodo dragon, the ancient monitor lizard is much larger. Based on the body proportions of tree monitors living in Australia today, the ancient monitor lizard could have reached 7.9 meters in length; if the body proportions of the Komodo dragon are used as a reference, the ancient monitor lizard could have been 7 meters long. At present, it is generally believed that the body length of the ancient monitor lizard was 7 meters and the weight was about 1 ton.

Monitor lizard

The ancient monitor lizard is like an enlarged version of the Komodo dragon, but it is much more ferocious and terrifying than the Komodo dragon. The large head of the ancient monitor lizard can reach 0.5 meters in length. Its head is wide and flat, and its mouth has two rows of sharp teeth that curve backwards. Judging from the shape of the skull and mandible, the mouth of the ancient monitor lizard is connected with powerful masseter muscles, which means it has a strong biting force. There are two large eyes on the bones on both sides of the ancient monitor lizard’s head, and their eyes reveal a cold sense of killing.

The body and limbs of the ancient monitor lizard are very thick. There is a thick and long tail behind it. The limbs of the ancient monitor lizard have five toes at the end. The toes have curved hooks at the end. The dinosaurs I often introduced to you before are completely different from the standing posture of the ancient monitor lizard. The ancient monitor lizard’s limbs stretched out from both sides of the body, and then stood down on the ground. This is a standard “reptile” posture.

In addition to strong bones and muscles, the body of the ancient lizard is covered with a layer of tough scaly skin. Which protects it like a layer of armor and makes it invulnerable.

Prehistoric Australia

Legend: There are many huge creatures in the world where the ancient monitor lizard lived, including Newton’s Giant Bird (upper left), Diprotodon (upper middle), and giant short-faced kangaroo (upper right). The pictures are from the Internet

Prehistoric Australia, where the ancient monitor lizard lived, was home to many large animals, including diprotodons, giant short-faced kangaroos, Newtonian giant birds, etc. Only these large animals can satisfy the appetite of the ancient lizard and thus meet its daily energy consumption needs. Although the ancient lizard looks slow. It actually has powerful explosive power and can reach very fast speeds when sprinting in a short period of time.

The End of Humanity and Wildfire

The ancient lizard was the apex predator of prehistoric Australia. Its contemporaries such as the marsupial lion, thylacine, hornabe snake and other carnivores were unable to compete with it. Just 40,000 years ago when the ancient monitor lizards dominated the Australian continent. A group of strange animals came here in canoes, and they were humans.

The first humans to come to Australia soon encountered the ancient monitor lizard. You can imagine how people felt when they saw this giant lizard for the first time. They just ran. In the legends of Australian Aboriginal people, there is a mention of a giant lizard from the mountains that caused people to panic. This animal is likely to be the ancient lizard. In a direct conflict between humans and ancient monitor lizards. Ancient monitor lizards will undoubtedly win, but humans have a magic weapon in their hands, and that is fire.

Humans who knew how to use fire ignited the forests of Australia, turning them into deserts and grasslands. Without the cover of shrubs, it is difficult for the ancient lizard to approach and attack its prey. The extinction of Australia’s large animals also means that the ancient monitor lizard cannot find enough food. As a result, not long after humans arrived on the Australian continent, the ancient lizard became extinct.

As a land giant that evolved from reptiles in the Cenozoic Era, the ancient lizard eventually became extinct under the influence of humans. Along with other giant animals that once lived in Australia.