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Get to know the perentie (Varanus giganteus). This massive lizard is one of the largest in the world. It can reach lengths of 6.6 ft (2 m) or more and hails from western Australia. It prefers dry habitats and hunts for a range of critters, from birds to mammals to other lizards.

It's time for Fossil Friday! Meet Cryptocleidus oxoniensis, a short-necked plesiosaur. Plesiosaurs were large marine reptiles that lived from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. The plesiosaurs had extensive modifications to the shoulder and pelvic girdles: these elements form large, flat sheets of bone, presumably for the attachment of swimming muscles. Cryptocleidus' trunk was very rigid and short, and the short tail could only function as a rudder, leaving the limbs as its main organ of propulsion.

Photo: © AMNH