When Lizards Ruled Prehistoric Australia

[@touremuhammad5983]

I’m glad that someone else acknowledged how Megalania was as big as today’s Saltwater crocs.

[@UnwantedGhost1-anz25]

What about weight/mass?

[@Jay-jb2vr]

That's obviously huge

[@Sharktoz]

I always enjoy hearing about this lizard. What I find interesting is that Megalania probably went extinct for the same reasons Megalodon went extinct. It wasn't a single factor, but a multitude of smaller factors that took their toll over time. I imagine humans coming into the picture was the nail in the coffin. Great video my friend.

[@abdulazizrex]

This creature truly was a dragon!

[@widodoakrom3938]

Land version of mosasaurs

[@knowncoralconsumer]

the largest squamate of the land vs the largest squamate of the sea

[@rishirajsaikia1323]

Mosasaurus was the largest lizard.

[@Astrapionte]

10:08 thanks for featuring and crediting my art! Loved the vid!

[@PvtPartzz]

Megolania? That’s a funny way to say Bunyip.

[@bkjeong4302]

This is one of the Australian megafauna we do know was still around when humans showed up, not having succumbed to the continent’s aridification, so take that as you will in regards to why it went extinct. Also, Komodo dragons do NOT hunt by biting prey and waiting for it to die (and their venom is at most a secondary aid, not the main method of killing-something the ORIGINAL STUDY DISCUSSING THEIR VENOM POINTS OUT). They rely on slashing prey open with their jaws and teeth and quickly inflicting physical damage to bring it down instead. The same would have applied to megalania as well (and to the carcharodontosaurs much further back, which were more specialized for this sort of attack)-the idea of large predators biting prey and then doing nothing but follow and wait isn’t supported by the hunting behaviours of any large predators alive today, even those that bleed out their prey.

[@spikezilla54]

.....you just said the same fucking thing. A ripping bite that would cause damage and bleeding added with a venom that keeps bleeding going while they move away to lower risk of injury is how it happened.

[@UnwantedGhost1-anz25]

I wonder if that sort of tactic is outdated compared to long-distance pursuit hunting today?

[@bkjeong4302]

@@UnwantedGhost1-anz25 they’re not mutually exclusive (wolves for example are long-distance pursuit hunted that bleed out large prey). My point is that predators that bleed out prey don’t hunt by biting prey and then just slowing following behind it while doing nothing but wait.

[@hooktraining3966]

It's a well known fact that monitor venom stops blood from clotting. This means that the lacerations do not stop bleeding.

[@bruceswinford4901]

I'm not sure, Australian Aboriginals art depict more than a few ancient megafauna but megalania is absent

[@luisvelez1952]

The Ice Age and ancient Australia animals deserves a movie trilogy film of their own, imagine an antagonist with a tamed Megalania and a protagonist with a prehistoric Lion. Megalania is the real life Kommo-o Pokémon of the modern world.

[@ophiophxgic]

i really enjoyed the video, i just have a small little nit-picky correction, the perentie (V. giganteus) is more closely related to Mertens water monitors (V. mertensi) and Spencers goannas (V. spenceri) the closest living relatives to the Megalania are Lace monitors (V. varius) Komodo Dragons and Crocodile monitors (V. salvadorii) but anyway great video very informative and i love seeing people talk about monitor lizards, i dont believe you touched on it in the video but monitor lizards are very intelligent and it would safe to assume that megalania were also very intelligent and that just makes them so much cooler

[@jakemoss3506]

Love the Ark reference 😂

[@Alberad08]

Thank you very much for providing this interesting feature!

[@zakan4898]

01:50 I like that you put ,,To Walk The Earth" becouse this is true but it is not the biggest lizard ever like you said at this minute and this is a big mistake - this title belong to mossasaurs and they leave the megalania far behind :p

[@MourningCoffeeMusic]

And Titanoboa since snakes are lizards too !

[@zakan4898]

@@MourningCoffeeMusic you are right

[@jacklantern7479]

@@MourningCoffeeMusicoh come on. Then humans are fish

[@bruhmingo]

@@jacklantern7479snakes are lizards, and humans are fish.

[@bruhmingo]

Huh? He just said it’s the largest to exist, not the largest to walk the earth.

[@tsaageotrimm]

magnificent beast, true monster lizard!

[@touremuhammad5983]

When you brought up competitors, my one issue is that Quinkana was not semi-aquatic but was a fully terrestrial crocodile.

[@jointcerulean3350]

Yup, that part was completely false, it was a completely terrestrial carnivore all the evidence and data shows it was a land carnivore. It had ziphodont dentition, like allosaurus, and megalania, tall broad vaulted high skull with forward facing eyes and nostrils. It’s pelvis was modified for a pillar stance like other sebecids and croc line archosaurs from the Triassic. And longer limbs. And other related land crocs like mekosuchus, voila, and trilophosuchus. Also Cuban crocs lived in fully terrestrial land ecosystems in the past as well.

[@NightStrider343]

If Megalania lives and evolves, it would be a convergent evolutionary equivalent to the T. Rex.

[@jointcerulean3350]

More like a giganotosaurus Quinkana was more like a trex equivalent of the Pleistocene Australia

[@andrewshear2927]

Ok, I really liked the video.

[@Distix-uz8qr]

Varanus priscus 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@MrPink-qf1xi]

A real life Dragon of mythical stature.

[@maniacram]

Lizards aren't dragons.

[@SaimonBhattarai2]

@@maniacram Thank you, Captain Obvious!

[@maniacram]

@@SaimonBhattarai2 not only that. They're ugly.

[@UnwantedGhost1-anz25]

Looks like reptiles will never have a apex predator niche in the Cenozoic today. But I hoping I'll be wrong as the Australian monitors will one day evolved to be super sized.

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

Crocodiles are the apex predators of today. All land mammals macropredators are way weaker.

[@jross9553]

My favourite animal of all time

[@gman42002]

Sorry to break it to you, but since all snakes are lizards, taxonomically, Titanoboa was the biggest land lizard with mosasaurus being the biggest lizard of all time

[@markcobuzzi826]

It seems that depends on whether or not one is counting mostly aquatic animals as land animals, by virtue of them spending at least some time out of the water. That is, since Titanoboa is apparently thought to have a mostly aquatic lifestyle, compared to megalania. For example, saltwater crocodiles, walruses, male elephant seals, etc. can all outweigh polar bears. But polar bears are still generally considered the Earth’s biggest land carnivore today, with “land carnivore” implicitly meaning “fully/mostly terrestrial carnivore” in that context.

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

Snakes are not monitor lizards. They are very different from monitors, although they are related.

[@colecampbell1906]

I honestly don't believe for a single second that their maximum speed was under 10mph. They were more likely to have been faster than komodo dragons. Maybe their walking speed was 5mph but their running speed had to have been at least 15mph or they wouldn't catch anything to eat.

[@jointcerulean3350]

Indeed true, it would be interestingly to see studies on the biomechanics of megalania, and to see what kind of top speeds it can achieve, 15mph speed for megalania is apt. Also other biomechanic studies on the other apex carnivores that lived in Australia at the time in the same Habitat as megalania, such as Quinkana, and thylacoleo. Also I heard about an unpublished species of very large varanid intermediate in size between megalania, and a Komodo dragon in Pleistocene. And another Pleistocene species of ziphodont land crocodile that is distinct from Quinkana and in its own genus, and it’s skull is larger than the holotype skull of Quinkana. Also other unpublished species as well. Also wonder if Perenites actually can hunt kangaroos? Heard the species can which is intriguing.

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

@@jointcerulean3350 Large perenties can kill an adult kangaroo such as wallaroo.

[@kevinnorwood8782]

I'm glad to know that Megalania is still accepted as a valid (if alternate) name for this creature.

[@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886]

Ancient Aborigines were real dragon slayers in the past.

[@daddypool4474]

Love the fact we got this vid, but have to heavily disagree with the hunting method/ diproptodon scenario. Macropredatory varanids like komodo dragons (iirc now thought to be the closest relative instead of the lace monitor) hunt via mechanical damage and the venom just sometimes gets enough time to cause significant effect or a failed hunt(still a very good job actually properly describing its hunting tactics although a little too much ephasis on venom for my liking while the mechanical potential cand be compared to being land sharks). Tbf bringing big cats was unnecessary as unlike the they don't need to target extremely vulnerable areas like neck or spinal cord cause their bites deliver actual deep lacerating damage anywhere so a bite on a limb renders it useless severing tendons and nerves while an attack on the abdomen would result in a disembowelment (actually we have such an observation documented when a komodo dragon ambushed and immediately gutted a water buffalo open incapacitating it on spot). Kinda sad there was no mention of komodo dragons evelving in Australia and coexsisting with megalania or being in the competition section. Still a great video and hope you will keep on creating future ones

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

Yes, and in Australia and South Asia were also monitors larger than Komodo and smaller than Megalania.

[@jointcerulean3350]

Interesting, is it the unpublished new species of Varanus ? Also heard of a varanid in India that was Komodo dragon sized from the Pliocene, might have also been around during the Pleistocene, though fossils only known from Pliocene. And Komodo dragon or possibly Komodo dragon fossils on Java.

[@r3n546]

Great video!

[@TheOverseerDebates]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@paleoguy2165]

0:19 that picture is from my local museum, and I’ve seen it in person. Trust me, the picture doesn’t do it justice. This mount is next to giants like mamenchisaurus and amargasaurus, but even they aren’t as impressive to me as the megalania. You’re select those sauropods to be big. But this thing…was BIG. It’s back legs are as wide as my entire body

[@phillipmitchell2254]

Not to be pedantic but keep in mind Titanoboa and Mosasaurs were also lizards, so if you're going by length or weight it may not be accurate to say megalania is the biggest lizard, you could definitely say biggest legged land lizard tho

[@markcobuzzi826]

To be fair, the video’s title at least specifies that it is the biggest lizard to walk the Earth, even if the video itself seems to call it the biggest lizard (period) at one point.

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

Titanoboa is not a lizard, it's a snake.

[@Saurian25]

Snakes are *not* lizards.

[@phillipmitchell2254]

@@Saurian25 All squamates are lizards.

[@Saurian25]

@@phillipmitchell2254 No, they are not … clearly, have no clue on what you talking about, that’s obvious.

[@zakan4898]

I see many critique in comment do not bother brother you just got few things wrong or just we are picky material was enjoyable for me and overall good.

[@UnwantedGhost1-anz25]

I wonder if a pack of stray dogs or dingoes would easily dominate the majority of early Pliestocene Australia ecosystems over time? Could Megalanias still thrive in the present day?

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

Yes, megalania can thrive in Australia these days. Moreover, Megalania would easily wipe out dingoes, just as Komodo killed dingoes and cats in Indonesia.

[@darthmalgus987]

Please do rex vs deinosucus

[@tyrannozilla1]

a real dragon🐉

[@rubric-eo5yj]

quinkana is a land croc or am i wrong

[@TheOverseerDebates]

From what I have read it seems to be debated between terrestrial and semi-aquatic with terrestrial being seemingly sketchy at best. But that doesn’t mean it’s ruled out.

[@eddieds312]

Funny how little tiny lizzards are so fast that you cant catch them with your bare hands. But the big giants ones are as slow as molasses WTF?

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

20-25 km/h is fast for the large land predator.

[@supercyc10]

So, curious. Do brits also use the imperial system for convenience? Cause you were flip flopping between that and metric?

[@mikes5637]

The guy is Australian.

[@supercyc10]

@@mikes5637Ahhhh ok, thank you for correcting. Question still stands.

[@dr.orange6509]

@@supercyc10yes; both British and Australian use both (miles ,gallons )etc.

[@supercyc10]

@@dr.orange6509cool

[@keithcole8536]

Good old science not knowing what something was due to lack of evidence but yet that doesn't stop people from throwing words around

[@jointcerulean3350]

What part of the video? There were certainly incorrect parts in the video

[@luisvelez1952]

Megalania vs Utahraptor

[@jeremyconnor414]

More

[@LoudmouthReviews]

Largest LAND lizard. Largest period is Mosasaurus as it was at least ten times larger

[@blueguy2128]

Bruh the title says "to walk the Earth"

[@LoudmouthReviews]

@@blueguy2128 But in the video he sometimes just says “largest lizard”

[@mikes5637]

​@@LoudmouthReviews what a pedantic little nitpicker you are. Get a life.

[@HENRYxOWL]

Bruv how did u know that i played ark and thought that

[@atticom]

If course australia

[@jointcerulean3350]

The info about Quinkana is completely false, it was 100% a fully terrestrial Carnivore NOT semi aquatic. It had ziphodont dentition serrated teeth like a theropod dinosaurs and like megalania, and like other land crocs such as sebecids and Plannocranids. It also had a tall broad deep valued snout with forward facing eyes and nostrils at the front not the top, lateralization of orbits and nares. And a modified pelvis for a pillar stance like in terrestrial sebecid crocs and Triassic terrestrial archosaurs in which it could not sprawl its limbs due to the configuration of the pelvis for a fully pillar stance. And fossils have been found in caves and other terrestrial landscapes and fossils sights were megalania, thylacoleo and other megafauna have been found. It also would have had long limbs. So this myth about Quinkana being spread to some Degree on some social media sights is quite perplexing because the data and evidence shows it was a fully terrestrial carnivore, not aquatic. Also there were other terrestrial crocs related to Quinkana such as mekosuchus, Trilophosuchus, and voila. Also a new ziphodont fully terrestrial crocodile with a well preserved skull has been found related to Quinkana from Australia and has yet to be fully published. There is a preview paper on it on researchgate. Also Cuban crocodile used to inhabit fully terrestrial landscapes in the Bahamas and Dominican Republic from isotopic data from Cuban croc bones found in blue holes on those islands. Also regarding Quinkana vs megalania 50/50 though more likely Quinkana most of the time due to having larger, more armored protective scutes osteoderms and a more powerful bite, jaws and skull. More likely it would be territorial most of the time, it would be like a Pleistocene version of a tyrannosaurus vs giganotosaurus.

[@zoology7764]

Agree Quinkana was fully terrestrial but technically it prefered weter environments compared to megalina

[@jointcerulean3350]

@@zoology7764 Indeed true, there are even fossils that indicate the genus was in New Guinea. Also interestingly besides the other ziphodont land croc Similar to Quinkana in Australia, there are even unpublished fossil material on aonther giant Varanid intermediate in size between a Komodo dragon and megalania..

[@Saurian25]

You do understand that the megalania was, for one, larger than the Quinkana (and by a significant margin), yes? Not even the largest speculative fragmentary specimen of Quinkana compares, so It is not 50/50 for both, let alone with the quinkana winning most of the time. The megalania is much larger, and its teeth are sharper and capable of dealing more damage than the teeth and jaws of the Quinkana. It also has flexibility, agility, robustness, and armor.

[@jointcerulean3350]

@@Saurian25 Well a 6m megalania vs a 3m quinkana, the megalania is winning that 100%, though considering there are fragmentary fossils of quinkana sp, or a closely related ziphodont croc species reaching 6 to 7m in length during the Pliocene. Id say its fair to say if quinkana actually reached 6 to 7m during the Pleistocene its a 50/50 Also quinkana was 100% terrestrial, the ziphodont dentition, skull morphology, and pillar stance pelvic fossils that sebecids had, and its closely related fully terrestrial relatives mekosuchus, trilophosuchus. No evidence for any aquatic lifestyle, those are outdated theories just as thylacoleo being a herbivore, or specialized in eating melons.

[@suricata1993]

Namely wise, there used to be a pretty big one also called Tyrant Lizard King, don’t know if anyone ever heard about it 😜😂

[@rew4640]

So exactly how can you be sure that it went extinct and it did not just evolved into a smaller size and become one of what we believe is a extant relatives?

[@markcobuzzi826]

If it has not already been tested, I think one possible method could be to run some DNA analyses between those of Australia’s modern monitor lizards and those of megalania fossils (if any of them are young enough to have DNA fragments still intact). If there is a close enough match to for one of the modern species to be a plausible descendant, then that might work. My only other guess would be to check and see whether or not the fossil record shows evidence that the modern species are a separate lineage existing independently from megalania.

[@Polosatiy_Varan]

There are no transitional forms between Megalania and modern Australian macropredatory monitors. And besides, Komodo dragons did not change after migrating to Indonesia.

[@Moulton_Lava]

Megalania or megalovania

[@Thetacodile117]

Their is actually cave art of this animal or more like hieroglyphs drawn by the aboriginals.

[@joshuaW5621]

I think it’s time we start debunking the claims that Megalania still exists.

[@ophiophxgic]

im working on an awful archeology style series about herpetology based conspiracy theories and megalania is on my list ;)

[@SniperBrutal-ll8oz]

Lizard

[@deweycollins8354]

I've heard aboriginal stories about it, some think it's still around

[@jointcerulean3350]

More likely New Guinea. Though a 3m monitor seems more likely