''Varanus marathonensis'', the Samos dragon, is an extinct

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of monitor lizard from the middle to late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of Greece and Spain, known from several specimens. A specimen consisting of a partial skull and several vertebrae was named ''Varanus amnhophilis'' in 2012 and placed in its own subgenus, ''Varaneades'', but a 2018 study found it to be a junior synonym of ''Varanus marathonensis''. Comparisons with other species of monitor lizards put its size between in length. The fossil was found in the

Turolian The Turolian age is a period of geologic time (9.0–5.3 Ma) within the Miocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. It precedes the Ruscinian age and follows the Vallesian age. The Turolian overlaps the Tortonian The Tort ...

-age Mytilini Formation on the island of

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

and is currently housed in the American Museum of Natural History.

Discovery and naming

''Varanus marathonensis'' is known from several specimens. One specimen from Cerro de los Batallones, Spain, is currently the most complete fossil of any ''Varanus'' species yet discovered. The specimen "''V. amnhophilis''" is known from several bone fragments, including the right side of the braincase, a right

quadrate bone The quadrate bone is a skull bone in most tetrapods, including amphibians, sauropsids (reptiles, birds), and early synapsids. In most tetrapods, the quadrate bone connects to the quadratojugal and squamosal bones in the skull, and forms upper pa ...

, part of the palate and skull roof, the right coronoid process and glenoid region of the lower jaw, a piece of the

clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the r ...

, and five vertebrae. These bones were found by American paleontologist

Barnum Brown Barnum Brown (February 12, 1873 – February 5, 1963), commonly referred to as Mr. Bones, was an American paleontologist. Named after the circus showman P. T. Barnum, he discovered the first documented remains of ''Tyrannosaurus'' during a career ...

, who stored it in the mammal collections of the American Museum of Natural History. The specimen was not identified as a reptile until 2009. Mammal paleontologist Nikos Solounias, who has worked extensively on Samos Island fossils, then brought the fossil to the attention of Carl Mehling. Mehling removed the specimen from the fossil mammal collection and cataloged it as AMNH FR (fossil reptile) 30630. The specimen was described in 2012 as a new species of ''Varanus'', and was placed in a new subgenus called ''Varaneades''. The species name ''amnhophilis'' means 'lover of lamb', from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

(, 'lamb') and (, 'a lover of'), as a reference to the diet of the largest living monitor lizards, which often includes sheep-sized (and larger) mammals. The subgenus name ''Varaneades'' comes from the genus name ''Varanus'' and the Neades, mythical nymphs from Samos. A subsequent study in 2018, however, found ''V. amnhophilis'' to be a junior synonym of ''V. marathonensis''.

Description

Size

The body length of AMNH FR 30630 was estimated by comparing the length of the braincase and an individual vertebra with their lengths in living species of monitor lizards. The ratios of braincase length to

postcranial Postcrania (postcranium, adjective: postcranial) in zoology and vertebrate paleontology is all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g. of dinosaurs or other extinct tetrapods, consist of partial or isolated s ...

length and dorsal (back) vertebra length to postcranial length are very similar for many monitor species, and were used to estimate the postcranial length of ''V. amnhophilis''. The first ratio gave an estimated postcranial length of about and the second gave a length of about .

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q12009011, from2=Q7915460 Varanus Fossil taxa described in 1888