Could global warming lead to 10ft reptiles? Scientists say small plant-eating lizards could grow to the size of Komodo dragons

Fossils of a giant lizard discovered in Burma have led scientists to believe a rise in temperature 40 million years ago caused plant-eating lizards to grow to the size of the 10ft dragons.



Scientists previously thought that large meat-eating dragons grew larger than their herbivore cousins because of a lack of predators.



These findings now from from the University of California and University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggest that a warmer climate is needed for large lizards to grow - and that global warming could cause this to happen again.

Fossils discovered by the University of California of the Barbateux Morrisoni, pictured, have led scientists to believe that a rise in temperature 40 million years ago caused plant-eating lizards to grew to the size of the 10ft dragons. They now believe global warming could cause this to happen again

Fossils of the giant lizard were originally discovered in Myanmar in Burma by scientists from University of Iowa and Duke University in the 1970s, yet paleontologists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln only recently began studying them.

The lizard king was dubbed Barbaturex morrisoni, which means Bearded Morrison, and was named after The Doors' frontman Jim Morrison.



It had ridges along the inside of its mouth that suggest the animal may have a had a skin flap in its throat, this means the lizard was likely a plant-eater.

It is thought to have been around six-foot long from nose to tail.



Scientists believe it would have weighed about 68lbs and could have resembled the modern-day bearded dragons, but around six times the size.

The original findings were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B last month.



Temperatures at the time the lizard roamed the earth - thought to be around 40 million years ago - are believed to be significantly hotter than the current climate.



And now, following further analysis of the fossils, paleontologists from the UC Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology suggest this warm climate helped these cold-blooded animals grow larger.



They even believe that some modern-day reptiles may grow larger as global temperatures continue to rise.

Jason Head from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln believes that if global temperatures were to rise at a natural pace that preserves healthy habitats, Earth could evolve giant lizards, turtles, snakes and crocodiles

'What's cool is that this is an example of gigantism in herbivorous lizards, which tells us that if you’re a reptile and vegetarian, you have to have a warm environment,' said vertebrate paleontologist Patricia Holroyd of UC Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology.



'These guys were nearly six feet long and weighed about 60 pounds, bigger than the antelopes in the area.'

Because today’s largest lizards, like the carnivorous Komodo Dragon of Komodo Island, Japan, are found soley on mammal-free islands, scientists have suggested that lizards can grow large only in the absence of large mammals that compete with them or eat them.



The new fossil find suggests that a warmer climate is also necessary for cold-blooded animals like lizards to grow large on a nutrient-poor leafy plant diet.

'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,' Jason Head, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, added.