Hi,
Your right Rob. Some fossiles have dated back to the Cretaceous.
One thing I cant believe I forgot to mention earlier is that not only
have Megalania fossils been found that date back around 20 million years ago, but they have also been found that only dated
back 300 YEARS!
A while back (10 years?) a farmer in central Queensland found some large, LARGE bones. Feeling he may have discovered something of interrest he called some University palaeontologist in Brisbane and handed the situation over to them. What he had discovered where indeed Megalania bones and foot prints in mud
where the creature had walked before it layed down and died.
The most likely situation was that the animal died during the downpour of the rainy season at the time. What seemed unreal was the fact that the bones dated to 300 years ago!
THIS is one of the biggest reasons I think a large giant may still be undiscovered. There are literrally thousands of square miles of
desert and forest that, while being mapped from the air, have not
been explored by man. THOUSANDS OF SQUARE MILES!!!!
If you type in "Extinct Megalania" in your search engine Rob you will probably find several small articles. I have not been able to find an inclusive website with Megalania info. All of what I have found out I got from reading I dont how many small articles and
talking to others that have interrest in Megalania.
It should be noted that there are hundreds if not thousands of small islands (similar to Komodo and its neighboring islands that the Komodo Dragon inhabit) that have not been explored or even found. Some islands in the solomons chain are believed to contain some large monitors also (rumored at around 12-22'). These claims come from natives of the Solomon Islands and others. This should be taken with a grain of salt however. Remember that natives also said that the "Tree Crocodile" was 20' long (actually varanus salvadorri). Unlike the giant crocodile monitors talked about by natives, Megalania has the bones to prove its immense size.
Let me know what else you come up with and think Rob. I'll have to break out the Austalia map in a little bit.
Seamus, have you any thoughts or theories on this?? I tried your
link to the cartoon but my internet filter turned up a page that said "Tasteless Material" and would let me see it. lol, oh well.