Fossil thought to be from giant ancient lizard

Australian scientiests aren't sure what the animal it was from, but a recently discovered fossilized claw may be from a large goanna species.

The claw is about seven centimetres long and was found at the Alcoota Scientific Reserve, about 160 kilometres north east of Alice Springs. The reserve is home to the largest and most concentrated fossil deposit of its kind in Australia and scientists say bones at the site could be millions of years old. Dr Adam Yates from the Museum of Central Australia has told the ABC's Country Hour the claw may belong to a reptile. "We don't know what animal this comes from," he said. "Similar claws have been found in the past and they've been suggested to have come from a large goanna. "That's a pretty big goanna. "We're looking at something much bigger than a modern komodo dragon, so a really giant goanna. "But we haven't found any other bones that we can attribute to a goanna of that size, so really we're scratching our heads."

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