For them to have interbred they must have lived together some time in (the) past,” Mr Pavón Vázquez said. “Sand monitors* only occur in Australia and southern New Guinea, whereas the komodo dragon is only found on a handful of islands in Indonesia.
The komodo dragon – which can grow to 3m long, weigh up to 90kg and is known for preying on buffaloes, deer, and even the occasional human - is famous for its homeland in Indonesia.īut a new reproduction study builds on earlier fossil records to indicate the massive lizard likely originated millions of years ago in Australia.Īustralian National University researcher Carlos Pavón Vázquez said it’s the first clear evidence of this type of interbreeding, known as hybridisation, happening in wild monitor lizards and the komodo is thought to have been derived from mating with an ancestor of the sand monitor, a type of Australian goanna.
The giant komodo dragon, the largest living lizard still on Earth, likely originated in Australia from a mix of parents, according to new research.
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