''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 ...

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...

from the middle to late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recen ...

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 Tortoni ...

-age Mytilini Formation on the island of

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a 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 separate ...

and is currently housed in the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

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, part of the palate and

skull roof The skull roof, or the roofing bones of the skull, are a set of bones covering the brain, eyes and nostrils in bony fishes and all land-living vertebrates. The bones are derived from dermal bone and are part of the dermatocranium. In comparati ...

, the right

coronoid process The Coronoid process (from Greek , "like a crown") can refer to: * The coronoid process of the mandible, part of the ramus mandibulae of the mandible * The coronoid process of the ulna The coronoid process of the ulna is a triangular process proj ...

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 rig ...

, 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 In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

called ''Varaneades''. The species name ''amnhophilis'' means 'lover of lamb', from the Greek (, '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 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