Komodo Dragon - one explanation for the reports about Artrellia
The Artrellia (other names Au Angi-Angi, Kaiaimunu, Rharhru) is a dragon-like arboreal lizard, reported from Papua New Guinea. A huge lizard, with 12–40 feet (3.7-12 m) length, said to eat humans. In the 1930s, members of the American Museum of Natural History’s Archbold Expedition to the interior of Papua New Guinea were told of a man-eating dragon.
Robert Grant and David George were exploring the Strachan Island District in 1961 when they encountered a gray lizard about 26 feet (8 m) long. Its neck was more than 3 feet (90 cm) long.
An animal captured in swampland near the Gulf of Papua in 1980 by the Operation Drake Expedition proved to be a juvenile specimen of crocodile monitor. Its length has been variously reported as 6 feet 6 inches (2 m) and 7 feet 3 inches (2.2 m) long. One of the group’s zoologists, Ian Redmond, later sighted a 12-feet (3.7 m) long animal.
Possible explanation
- The Crocodile monitor (Varanus salvadorii ) has curved teeth, elongated toes,strongly curved sharp claws, and rubbery pads on the bottom of the feet. Its long tail is up to two and a half times the length of the head and body. The color is black, with white speckles. The animal may regularly grow over 12 feet, making it the longest lizard in the world. One specimen was measured unofficially at 15 feet 7 inches (4.7 m), and there have been rumors of individuals 20 feet (6 m) long.