Megalania prisca

Megalania was the largest predator in Australia during the last two million years. It was related to the living Perenti and Gould's Goanna, but was much larger - their maximum length was at least 5.5 metres and their maximum weight about 600 kg. This is twice the length of their closest living relative, the Komodo Dragon of eastern Indonesia.

Megalania prisca, cast skeleton at Melbourne Museum. Photographer: Michelle McFarlane. Source: Museum Victoria.

Megalania was a carnivore. It is uncertain whether it could attack and kill the rhinoceros-sized Diprotodon optatum, but it certainly would have feasted on dead individuals it found as carrion.

Fossil bones amounting to about 20% of the skeleton of Megalania have been found in eastern Australia, particularly the Darling Downs of Queensland. The articulated skeleton on display at Melbourne Museum has been constructed from casts of these bones and by extrapolating from the corresponding bones of goannas.

Exhibits at Melbourne Museum:
Articulated cast skeleton