Varanus prisca, Owen, 1859

Head, Jason J., Barrett Fls, Paul M. & Rayfield, Emily J., 2009, Neurocranial osteology and systematic relationships of Varanus (Megalania) prisca Owen, 1859 (Squamata: Varanidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (2), pp. 445-457 : 446-447

VARANUS PRISCA OWEN, 1859

1859 Megalania prisca Owen : 43, pl. 7 (figs 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A), pl. 8 (figs 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A) (original description).

1884 Notiosaurus dentatus Owen : 249, pl. 12 (figs 1–9).

1888 Varanus priscus Lydekker : 284, fig. 66 (incorrect spelling, new combination).

1889 Varanus dirus de Vis : 98.

1899 Varanus warburtonensis Zeitz : 210.

Designated lectotype: BMNH 32908 c, a dorsal vertebra .

Paralectotypes: BMNH 32908 a and BMNH 32908 b, partial dorsal vertebrae .

Emended diagnosis: Extremely large body size; dorsal vertebrae with low, flattened neural arch; incipient zygosphene-zygantral articulation present; processus alaris of prootic narrow and short, not extending dorsally to level of supraoccipital processus ascendens; prootic inferior process strongly anteroventrally angled, with convex dorsal margin; crista prootica with broadly convex posterior process; fenestra vestibuli and occipital recess incompletely separated medial to crista interfenestralis. See Hecht (1975) and Estes (1983) for additional apomorphies.

Referred material: Lydekker (1888), de Féjérváry (1935), Hecht (1975), Estes (1983), and Molnar (2004) each provided comprehensive lists of referred specimens, which will not be duplicated here. Known material includes isolated cranial elements [maxillae, a frontal, parietal, neurocranium (described herein), dentaries, and isolated teeth], numerous vertebrae (representing all regions of the axial column), fore- and hindlimb material, and girdle elements.

Distribution: Pleistocene of eastern Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia). A comprehensive list of localities is available in Hecht (1975).

Comments: The correct species name is Varanus prisca , although several authors have adopted an alternative, incorrect spelling ( priscus : e.g. Lydekker, 1888). Varanus prisca was erected on the basis of three syntypes (BMNH 32908a–c: Owen, 1859), and no holotype specimen was designated. In accordance with Article 74 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999), one of these syntypes (BMNH 32908c, a dorsal vertebra) has been designated the lectotype, and the remaining syntypes (BMNH 32908a–b) have been designated as paralectotypes. BMNH 32908c was chosen as the lectotype, as it had been illustrated previously ( Owen, 1859: pl. 7, figs 1–4), in accordance with ICZN Recommendation 74B, and as it is almost complete, and is therefore the most informative specimen from the original syntype series.