PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Varanus prisca

Reptilia - Varanidae

Taxonomy

Megalania prisca was named by Owen (1859) [two additional dorsal vertebrae (BMNH 32908a and b) are paralectotypes]. Its type specimen is BMNH 32908c, a set of vertebrae (dorsal vertebra), and it is a 3D body fossil.

It was recombined as Varanus prisca by Head et al. (2009).

Sister species lacking formal opinion data

V. cayluxi, V. giganteus, V. gouldii, V. hofmanni, V. indicus

Synonyms

Notiosaurus dentatus was named by Owen (1884).

It was synonymized subjectively with Varanus prisca by Head et al. (2009).
Varanus dirus was named by de Vis (1889).

It was synonymized subjectively with Varanus prisca by Head et al. (2009).
Varanus warburtonensis was named by Zeitz (1899).

It was synonymized subjectively with Varanus prisca by Head et al. (2009).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1859	Megalania prisca Owen
1884	Notiosaurus dentatus Owen
1888	Varanus priscus Lydekker p. 284
1889	Varanus dirus de Vis p. 98
1899	Varanus warburtonensis Zeitz p. 210
1934	Megalania prisca Swinton p. 17
2009	Varanus prisca Head et al. p. 446

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria

Rank	Name	Author
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
—	Squamata	()
—	Anguimorpha	(Fürbringer 1900)
—	Anguiformes	(Bonaparte 1831)
infraorder	Platynota	Baur 1890
superfamily	Varanoidea	Gray 1827
family	Varanidae	Hardwicke and Gray 1824
genus	Varanus	Merrem 1820
species	prisca	()

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Varanus prisca Owen 1859

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Invalid names: Notiosaurus dentatus Owen 1884 [synonym], Varanus dirus de Vis 1889 [synonym], Varanus warburtonensis Zeitz 1899 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

terrestrialf

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

scansorialf

Diet:

carnivoref

Reproduction:

oviparousf

Created:

2005-09-16 14:10:01

Modified:

2005-09-23 16:08:59

Source: f = family, c = class, subp = subphylum

References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Pianka and Vitt 2003

Age range: base of the Early/Lower Pliocene to the top of the Late/Upper Pleistocene or 5.33300 to 0.01170 Ma

Collections (9 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Early/Lower Pliocene	5.333 - 3.6	Australia (Queensland)	Varanus dirus (13318)
Pleistocene	2.588 - 0.0117	Australia (Queensland)	Megalania prisca (138403)
Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.774 - 0.0117	Australia (Queensland)	Megalania prisca (183080)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Australia (Queensland)	Megalania prisca (194846) Varanus dirus (28422) Varanus priscus (210195 210197 210198 210199)