Early Australians faced giant killer lizards

ACTON, Australia, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A variety of large ancient lizards once roamed Australia. But as some point during the last Ice Age, they disappeared.

New evidence suggests mankind may have played a role in their demise. A newly uncovered fossil, belonging to one of Australia's giant killer lizards, confirms that the continent's large reptiles and earliest human inhabitants lived alongside each other for a brief period of time.

The tiny bone, part of the lizard's skin, was uncovered in Central Australia by a team of paleontologists from the University of Queensland.

"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 500kg and grew up to six meters long," researcher Gilbert Price said in a press release.

Price and his colleagues were able to date the bone. At 50,000 years old, it's the earliest evidence of the presence of giant lizards Down Under. Remains of Australia's Aboriginal inhabitants first appear in the fossil record during the same time period.

The bone's discovery is detailed in the journal Quarterly Science Reviews.

"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 Ice Age in Australia was a dangerous place to be. Alongside giant lizards lived 30-foot-long terrestrial crocodiles. Today, Australia still has pretty big crocs, but its largest lizard, the perentie, measures just over six feet.