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| Megalania Temporal range: Late Pleistocene | |
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| Megalania skeletal reconstruction on Melbourne Museum steps | |
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| Genus: | Varanus |
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| Varanus priscus Owen 1859 | |
Megalania (Varanus prisca) was a giant monitor lizard that lived in southern Australia. It was part of a species of megafauna that lived during the Pleistocene, and appears to have disappeared around 40,000 years ago. The first Aboriginal settlers of Australia may have encountered living Megalania.
Megalania is the land-based lizard known to have existed. Judging from its size, Megalania would have fed mostly upon medium- to large-sized animals, including any of the giant marsupials like Diprotodon . view more...
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