New research suggests that during the last Ice Age, human inhabitants of Australia had to battle giant lizards along with the frigid conditions. The findings also suggest the epic battles between humans and the gigantic lizards may have resulted in the animals' extinction.
Scientists working in Central Queensland uncovered evidence that giant apex predator lizards existed in the Queensland region at the same time as our human ancestors, the University of Queensland reported.
"Our jaws dropped when we found a tiny fossil from a giant lizard during a two [meter] deep excavation in one of the Capricorn Caves, near Rockhampton," said UQ vertebrate palaeoecologist Gilbert Price. "We can't tell if the bone is from a Komodo dragon-which once roamed Australia-or an even bigger species like the extinct Megalania monitor lizard, which weighed about 500 [kilograms] and grew up to six [meters] long."
Five-hundred kilograms is equivalent to about 1,100 pounds and six meters converts to about 20 feet, so the ancient lizards would have been extremely sizable considering Australia's largest living lizard (the perentie) grows to "only" about six feet in length. The findings raise questions as to whether or not the demise of these monstrous lizards was a result of human activity.
"It's been long-debated whether or not humans or climate change knocked off the giant lizards, alongside the rest of the megafauna," Price said. "Humans can only now be considered as potential drivers of their extinction."
The lizard bone was discovered within the Capricorn Caves, which caused the scientists to wonder how the bone made its way to such a strange location in the first place.
"This study also begs the question-what else is entombed in our caves and what else can we learn?" said Capricorn Caves manager Ann Augusteyn.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
