700,000-year-old remarkably intact skeleton of giant lizard species found

A study has begun on the skeletal remains of a 700,000-year-old giant lizard found on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Paleontologists believe that the fossil discovered on the shores of the island of Tenerife is Gollotia goliaths, an extinct species that existed before humans reached the Canary Islands, according to Newsweek.

Other skeletal remains of a smaller lizard found nearby are damaged; the larger lizard, in contrast, is in such remarkable condition that it can impact future research into prehistoric life and paleoecology on the Canary Islands.

A first of its kind discovery thanks to an accident

While searching for seashells, botanist Arnoldo Santos Guerra happened to notice a block of sandstone on the shore. Weighing over 20 kilograms, it appeared to contain a lizard with its skeleton intact and visible.

Having transferred the fossil to a team of paleontologists at the University of La Laguna, upon closer investigation, they identified a second reptile. Even if the state of the smaller lizard bones is poor, researchers hypothesize by their unbroken structures that they perished together immediately in a dune by accident, according to Tenerife Weekly.

Though their lives ended suddenly and even tragically, the larger lizard so well-preserved will enable these researchers to study prehistoric life on the Canary Islands to a profound depth, as the University of La Laguna, a significant center for paleontological research, boasts an impressive collection of fossils, including lizards.

Francisco Garcia and his colleagues gave a presentation to the university and communicated that “the excellent condition of the specimen provides accurate insights into its proportions without the need for regression lines commonly utilized in such analyses.”

In other words, as Newsweek reported, they aren’t working with fragments.

Additionally, a fossil this ancient has yet to be uncovered, it seems, making it an unprecedented acquisition that will allow them to make connections even further back in time and analyze it.

Research will unveil the Canary Island’s past and present and maybe future

Investigation into the specimens has begun. Paleontologists have already taken computed tomography scans of the head, which is separate from the body, according to Tenerife Weekly , to compare and contrast it with other species living and extinct and confirm its identity.

They have access to a number of fossils with which to draw conclusions including jaws and leg bones gathered 26 caves on the island. Furthermore, only one of these caves have been catalogued, so this discovery could support their research moving forward. They can say, however, that the fossil resembles other lizards found in El Hierro.

For the study of paleontology, ecology, and evolution, the ancient reptile could open new doors toward understanding the past, present, and future. The University of Laguna may hold lizards 4,000 to 15,000 years old, but not 700,000, a moment in time when hominid populations interbred. So the reptile might not be as old as a dinosaur , but Homo sapiens hadn’t even appeared yet.

Up next for the giant, ancient lizard: they will examine its anatomy and evaluate what secrets or knowledge it may hold about biodiversity and environmental changes pertinent to the Canary Islands, Newsweek concludes.