Megalania (Varanus priscus)

[infernalis]

I know it's an older documentary, but it's still excellent.

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[Brently]

its cool to think about but I don't think that it could still exist. As invasive a species as man is we would have found this one especially given the payoff that would come with this discovery. But an awesome spectacle it would be...

[Roadtrash]

Very interesting, I had never seen this before. He said that all monitors had this venom gland so does this mean that all the pet monitors that people keep have the capability to "inject" venom when they bite? I know very little about all the lizards that are out there and that's one of the reasons I like this site so much. I can and do learn a lot from you folks.

[Roadtrash]

Ok I just looked on the net and found out a lot about monitors and sure enough they all do have venom. Like I said I don't know much about lizards and now I find I am learning something new everyday. Thanks a lot for posting the vids, they really made me think and now I know a lot more than I did before.

[infernalis]

I have been bitten by my Savs, often drawing blood, with no adverse effects.

[varanus_mad]

Speaking personally... ive had an odd reaction to bites from the following sp...

timors
cumingi
salvator
Niles

but not boscs or albigs

Of course it could of been the fact they dont brush there teeth

[crocdoc]

The venom is apparently fairly rudimentary and acts mainly in reducing blood pressure and slowing coagulation/clotting. Bryan's theory is that it may induce shock, causing the prey to succumb more quickly. Given that most monitors prey on animals much smaller than themselves, it's debatable how useful this would be most of the time, but I guess every now and then they do prey on animals large enough to cause a bit of a struggle so it would be helpful then.

I've been bitten by juvenile lace monitors and I can definitely say the bites bleed profusely and also sting a lot more than one would expect from the physical damage alone. Apparently some of the smaller 'dwarf' monitors have particularly painful bites.

The interesting thing about Megalania (which I think has since been included in the genus Varanus) is that it wasn't the only huge monitor to have appeared in Australia in prehistoric times. A series of fossils has been discovered which suggest that Australia was the original home of the Komodo dragon and its relatives, (not just Megalania prisca/Varanus priscus), for they seem to have evolved here. That makes sense, considering that the Komodo dragon's closest living relative is the lace monitor.