What would it be like to encounter a giant 20-foot monitor lizard? Take Australia`s presumed to be extinct Megalania Prisca for example.
Imagine walking down a trail enjoying the scenery then “boom”!
You`re grabbed by huge jaws with curved one-inch razor-like serrated teeth. Though excruciatingly painful there would not be much of a struggle as your exposed blood incites the massive, powerful creature to feeding frenzy.
Besides saltwater crocodiles, no other animal in the fossil record struck more fear into the heart of ancient man in this part of the world. Megalania Prisca was a colossal reptile and it may still exist today.
That`s right. Today.
In 1961, Robert Grant and David George were exploring the Strachan Island District of Papua New Guinea when they encountered an enormous goanna (monitor lizard). In 1970, Grant told cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy, this beast was approximately thirty feet long and four feet tall on all fours, with a three to four foot long neck.
A similar creature was sighted in Australia in April of 1982. Walter Lake had been traveling to Karratha when a huge 20-foot plus mottled colored monitor cut across the road directly in front of him. Lake estimated its length at “about 22 feet from head to tail.”
There is another predator equally as fierce in appearance and demeanor who potentially roamed Australasia (Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand) and Indonesia with man. Huge therapods, sometimes called Burrunjor or Murra Murri, may have even put even the giant monitors to flight.
The sighting of a living giant therapod occurred near Mt. Isa, Australia in 1961. A dust storm forced a group of hunters, including Tom Geoghan, to take shelter. In the distance across flat terrain, a huge bipedal reptile crossed in front of them. Geoghan reported the creature was up around 25 ft. tall standing on two legs, and had a very large head. Once the storm past, the men immediately got out of the area.
Two 20 to 25 ft. tall mottled colored bipedal reptiles were reportedly seen by travelers near Roper River Mission during 1986. As eyewitness Greg Asby reported to Gilroy “they looked like dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus or some similar species.”
Giant reptiles, including Megalania sized goannas and living dinosaurs such as the bipedal Burrunjor, may exist in parts of Australasia and Indonesia today for a variety of reasons. There are for example, vast tracks of relatively unexplored, uninhabited land in the region. Habitat here is known to support a myriad of reptile species including some of the world`s largest such as the Komodo dragon, reticulated python, and the salt crocodile.
The fossil record additionally points to the fact that monster reptiles once roamed this part of the earth. If they were here in the past, then it stands to reason that some may have survived into the present. If the coelacanth and wollemi pine survived, why not a living therapod or super goanna?
Reptile metabolism is another factor to consider. Reptiles being cold blooded require less food to survive than mammals. Snakes for example, can go for months without food. Large reptiles such as Megalania and Burrunjor would likely not require the same amount of food to survive as a mammal of similar weight and size. The possibility also exists that such creatures, if left alone for a long enough period of time, could reach massive size within their genetic potential.
Proof of therapod dinosaur and Megalania survival additionally comes in the form of folklore, myth, and anecdotal eyewitness accounts within the region. Aboriginal “dreamtime” stories for example, spoke of fascinating mythical creatures known as bunyips. Some of these creatures may have been dinosaurs. The Aborigines certainly spoke of giant monitors or goannas, such as Megalania.
In 2001, 2002, and again in 2004, I explored the wilds of Australia. Additionally in 2002, I ventured to prehistoric Papua New Guinea. The major focus of my latter two trips was to search for and collect information on primarily Allosaur-sized therapods, other remnant land living dinosaurs, and giant monitor lizards. My research is ongoing and more expeditions are in the works.
Rather than go extinct, some dinosaurs, including giant therapods like Burrunjor and super varanids such as Megalania Prisca, may have just adapted to their ever changing environments. They could still survive in some form currently, possibly just a smaller version.
As academia scours the planet in search of the last remaining animal life, crypto researchers such as myself, Rex Gilroy and others hope to discover the “big one” somewhere in the hidden realms of the Pacific.
Oh, if you`re still pondering escaping the jaws of megalania prisca ponder this.
Freedom would only be temporarily as you would likely have been infected by deadly bacteria similar to those found in the saliva of a Komodo dragon, resulting in death hours later.
Escape or not you end up lizard fodder.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
If anyone has any information regarding living dinosaurs, giant monitors or giant snakes feel free to contact me at:
T. Jurasek
P.O. Box 700068
Tulsa, OK 74170
Email: dragoncatcher777@hotmail.com
