14 DAY TRIAL // An article in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B describes a lizard species estimated to have walked the Earth some 40 million years ago.
The lizard measured 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length, and tipped the scales at over 60 pounds (about 27 kilograms).
Because of its size, the lizard was named after The Doors' singer Jim Morrison, whom some used to call The Lizard King.
Thus, scientists will from now on refer to this ancient reptile as Barbaturex morrisoni.
EurekAlert says that the lizard inhabited the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, and that it fed on whatever plants it chanced to find.
Although it shared its home with numerous herbivores, it appears that the lizard hardly ever went hungry. That was because these forests were lush enough to sustain several species.
“We think the warm climate during that period of time allowed the evolution of a large body size and the ability of plant-eating lizards to successfully compete in mammal faunas,” US paleontologist Jason Head says.
The reptile is believed to be one of the biggest land reptiles to have ever inhabited our planet.