Megalania

extinct reptiles · giant lizards · Australia · prehistoric

Biggest lizard ever. Megalania was the largest land lizard that ever lived, even bigger than today's Komodo dragons. Most of these giant lizards were about 2 to 2.4 meters long, but some grew to 4.5 meters or possibly even 7 meters total length, which is longer than a car.

Ancient Australia. Megalania roamed Australia during the Pleistocene, a time when megafauna (giant ice age animals) lived all across the continent. It shared its world with other enormous creatures that have since vanished.

Mystery of size. Scientists aren't totally sure how big Megalania really was because the fossils we have are broken and incomplete. Different experts guess different maximum sizes, which is why some think they could have reached 7 meters long, while others think smaller.

Monitor lizard family. Megalania was part of the monitor lizard family, which means it was a relative of today's Komodo dragons and other monitor lizards. It had the same basic body plan as modern monitors, just much, much bigger.