Komodo (island) and Botanical Gardens in Bogor, Java. The records that Ouwens made are the first reliable documentation of details about what is now called the Komodo dragon (or Komodo monitor). Ouwens was keen to obtain additional samples. He recruited hunters who killed two dragons measuring 3.1 metres and 3.35 metres as well as capturing two pups, each measuring less than one metre. Ouwens carried out studies on the samples and concluded that the Komodo dragon was not a flame-thrower but was a type of monitor lizard. Research results were published in 1912. Ouwens named the giant lizard "Varanus komodoensis". Realizing the
La Palma giant lizard This happened with other giant lizards of the Canary Islands, like the El Hierro giant lizard and La Gomera giant lizard (rediscovered 1974 and 1999, respectively); the somewhat smaller Tenerife speckled lizard was only discovered for the first time in 1996. At this point, not a single living individual has been captured and any remaining population, if existing, is assumed to be tiny. La Palma giant lizard The La Palma giant lizard (Gallotia auaritae) is a giant lacertid historically living on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain); its habitat ranged from sea level up to altitudes of 800