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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Sandy Creek Gorge; Humans, Palaeofloods And Landscape Evolution, John D. Jansen, Derek Fabel
Sandy Creek Gorge; Humans, Palaeofloods And Landscape Evolution, John D. Jansen, Derek Fabel
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
No abstract provided.
Dragon's Paradise Lost: Palaeobiogeography, Evolution And Extinction Of The Largest-Ever Terrestrial Lizards (Varanidae), Scott A. Hocknull, Michael J. Morwood, Rokus Awe, Gerrit D. Van Den Bergh, P Piper, I Kurniawan
Dragon's Paradise Lost: Palaeobiogeography, Evolution And Extinction Of The Largest-Ever Terrestrial Lizards (Varanidae), Scott A. Hocknull, Michael J. Morwood, Rokus Awe, Gerrit D. Van Den Bergh, P Piper, I Kurniawan
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Background The largest living lizard species, Varanus komodoensis Ouwens 1912, is vulnerable to extinction, being restricted to a few isolated islands in eastern Indonesia, between Java and Australia, where it is the dominant terrestrial carnivore. Understanding how large-bodied varanids responded to past environmental change underpins long-term management of V. komodoensis populations. Methodology/Principal Findings We reconstruct the palaeobiogeography of Neogene giant varanids and identify a new (unnamed) species from the island of Timor. Our data reject the long-held perception that V. komodoensis became a giant because of insular evolution or as a specialist hunter of pygmy Stegodon. Phyletic giantism, coupled with …