Australia’s no-frills history of lizards

AUSTRALIA’S famous deadly snakes and its array of lizards may actually hail from Asia.

A new study suggests that ancestors of reptiles such as Australia’s frill-necked lizard and venomous red-bellied black snake emigrated here about 30 million years ago, either by swimming across the sea or hitching a ride on drifting branches.

Their watery path could have been made possible after Australia broke away from Antarctica and drifted northwards towards Asia around the same time.

Australia is home to about 11 per cent of the world’s 6300 reptile species – the highest proportion of snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles found in any country.