Workmen unearth bones of early reptile

Workmen unearth bones of early reptile

TANGERANG: Several workmen digging near a beach in Ketapang
subdistrict in Tangerang came across an assortment of bones,
which at first sight, looked like they belonged to a large
reptile that existed in prehistoric times, an expert has said.

One of the workmen, Maksum, said that the bones were
discovered when he and the others had dug down some 15 meters on
Wednesday.

"We first thought that they were just stones because they were
hard, but as we continued digging we found that the arrangement
of the bones resembled a crouching Komodo dragon," he told The
Jakarta Post on Friday.

The bones have been placed in dozens of large bags by local
residents for further research.

Separately, the chief of the Tourism and Cultural Agency in
the regency, Darmawan Hidayat, said that the discovery had been
reported to the Banten provincial archeological agency.

"We don't know if the bones belong to a large Komodo dragon
because we haven't seen them yet," he said, adding that he would
first research the types of large extinct reptiles that had
roamed the regency in prehistoric times. --JP