Re: Megalania question - DNA

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Jura writes: 

> Molnar also goes into great detail into the tail length problem, and how widely ranging these results can be depending on length estimates. He mentioned that if _Megalania prisca_ had a tail that was 2.3 times bodylength, like in _V.varius_ then the largest specimen would have clocked in around 7.9 meters. If, as Hecht suggested, the tail was half SVL, then the largest individual would have been 5.2 meters.  
>
> However, since no living monitor shows a tail that is less than SVL, this latter estimate is probably wrong. In the end Molnar assumed a tail length that was equal to body length (like in oras), which resulted in a 7 meter individual.

It'd be interesting to compare the proportion of total length the tail makes 
up with total mass in a range of living varanids, to see whether there's a 
nice neat relationship (tails getting proportionally shorter as mass gets 
bigger, for instance). If there is a nice neat trend, then scaling up to 
Megalania-size might then result in a tail that is less than the 
snout-to-vent length. 

Of course in the absence of actual fossil material, it's still just another 
method of interpolation. 

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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