A possible new species of giant prehistoric lizard—bigger and
badder than the deadly Komodo dragon—may have stalked the
ancient Australian outback, a new study says. Three fossilized
bones of the mysterious 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) lizard were
collected in 1966 in western Timor island. When study leader
Scott Hocknull recently examined the fossils, he was "astounded"
to find that they belonged neither to the Komodo dragon—the only
giant lizard species alive today—nor Megalania, a 16-foot-long
(5-meter-long) extinct monster that's among the largest lizards
known to have ever lived. Giant Lizard "a Nasty Piece of Work"
The "tantalizing bones"—which date to the middle of the
Pleistocene epoch (1.8 million to 11,500 years ago)—are unique
enough that Hocknull suspects they represent a new species. But
only "more fossils and time will tell," said Hocknull, senior
curator of geosciences at Australia's Queensland Museum. The
newfound predator would have lived in open landscapes alongside
giant tortoises, dwarf ele