emmy Posted May 2, 2003 #1 Share Posted May 2, 2003 In this day and age, Australia is thought of as desert filled with eucalyptus trees and cotton plantations. The animals usually associated with this continent are koalas, kangaroo, wombats, and crocodiles, some of the largest to be found. There used to be other animals, commonly referred to as megafauna, that roamed this continent before being wiped out by plague or man. These were nightmarish versions of the creatures that we have today. Australia once held 10-foot tall kangaroos that fed on flesh rather than vegetation, and at one time had monitor lizards that dwarfed the Komodo dragon. This was megalania prisca, a reptile reaching 30 feet in length and weighing at least 1,000 pounds or more. The Komodo dragon is roughly the size of a lion, but megalania was bigger than an average dairy cow. Extinct megalania is listed with the many casualties of the Ice Age. Or is it extinct? The creature has been sighted many times in the last century, and some sightings suggest that it lives also in New Guinea. Megalania Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neen Posted May 3, 2003 #2 Share Posted May 3, 2003 It's funny that you should mention this megalania as my aunty who is in her 50's and isn't what you'd call openminded about things, happened to mention one time she did see something that she just could not explain.It was when she was alot younger-maybe 20to30 years ago-her and a male companion were traveling in there car basicly in the middle of nowhere,when she said they had to slow down because ahead was the biggest "thing" she had ever seen, she said it resembled a cross between a crocadile and a goanna and it covered the entire highway from one lane to the other easily.They had to wait for it to move of the road.She was certain it was not just a large croc. or goanna, and she has kept the story to herself as she thought no-one would believe her.Even i was a bit scepticle, but after reading your post Emmy it makes me wonder what she really did see that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kismit Posted May 6, 2003 #3 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Wow , there's another one I had never heard of before . Great find emmy . I suppose with the vast dessert areas in Auatralia it is possible to have a species like this still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saru Posted May 6, 2003 #4 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Megolania was truly a creature of a terrifying size, there was a BBC series on recently called 'Monsters We Met', which was all about mankind meeting such creatures for the first time thousands of years ago. They said that Megolania is the closest thing humans have ever come to meeting a live Dinosaur face to face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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