Varanus priscus (Owen, 1859)
Megalania, Giant goanna, Giant ripper
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Megalania prisca Owen, 1859 (original combination)
Ninjemys oweni (Woodward, 1888) was confused by Owen with Varanus priscus, which caused him to describe N. oweni material as that of V. priscus (see Gaffney, 1992).
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: 50kya (Price et al., 2015)
Distribution
Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
BMNH 39965
QMF44615-17 ("osteoderms")
QMF1418; QML1420 (Hocknull, 2005:71)
Media
Agnozoology
Through the research of Australian cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy, many reports of giant goannas/lizards/monitors up to or exceeding 30ft in length have come to light (Gilroy, 1976, 1979, 1982 and 2000)*. And the most likely candidate, given the known sizes of recent varanid species, is Megalania (Varanus priscus). However, it is rather odd that most of these reports have emanated from Gilroy himself, and that there does not seem to be much of an historical precedent to the spate of reports from the 1970's and 80's claimed by Gilroy**, either in newspapers or other media sources, especially those of the 19th century when the species' numbers were likely much higher if they did/do exist. A case in point is (Eberhart, 2002), who's only source for reports of the "Australian Giant Monitor" is three of the Gilroy citations above (i.e. Gilroy, 1979, 1982, 2000).
Claims by Gilroy (source) that giant reptiles much larger than perenties (Varanus giganteus), Australia's largest accepted living varanid, feature in aboriginal traditions are unsubstantiated as far as I am aware, but not at all surprising. The latest survival dates of V. priscus suggest that there was at least some temporal overlap with aboriginals, and indeed the latter are generally thought to have driven the former extinct, presumably because of the threat they posed to the aboriginals. So the fact that Megalania would be incorporated into aboriginal oral tradition is not surprising, given the lasting impression they must have left upon the aboriginals who saw them. But that does not in any way give any credence to a more recent survival date of V. priscus, or any other megafaunal species for that matter, than is currently accepted by mainstream science.
* This is in addition to reports of bipedal reptiles, roughly dinosaur-like in conformation, and said without hesitation to be surviving theropod dinosaurs by Todd Jurasek (source), which cannot be attributed to Megalania because of extreme osteological differences.
** I can only find two alleged sightings of giant lizards in Greater Australia which predate the 1970's: Euroa, Victoria in 1890 when many people from that town were scared of a 30 ft long giant lizard (source). And Papua New Guinea in 1961, when Robert Grant and David George met with a giant goanna 30ft long (source). Both of these reports can be traced back to Gilroy, however, as can almost all of the others of which I am aware.
References
Original scientific description:
Owen, Richard. (1859). Description of some remains of a gigantic land-lizard (Megalania prisca, Owen) from Australia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 149: 43-48.
Other references:
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Strange Phenomena June 1979
https://web.archive.org/web/20140110094548/http://www.mysteriousaustralia.com/australian_giant_lizard_mainpage.html
http://thecryptozoologist.webs.com/apps/blog/show/15615981-megalania-prisca-dragon-of-the-australian-outback [mentions an A Current Affair story about a female motorist sighting a 20-ft lizard]
http://www.amazon.com/Crocodile-That-Wasnt-eye-witness-megafauna-ebook/dp/B00964339G/ref=sr_1_264?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398497515&sr=1-264&keywords=extinct
https://twilightbeasts.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/the-dragon-down-under/
https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/when-giant-goannas-roamed-our-region/3214054/
http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/9083/megalania-prisca-varanus