Top 10 Largest Reptiles in The World

number 10 the Malayan water monitor also known as the Asian water monitor these are one of the most common lizards in South and Southeast Asia with a range from Sri Lanka to some islands of Indonesia but regardless of the country they are always found near the water on average an adult water monitor will not get much bigger than six-and-a-half feet however, there have been records of some reaching 10 and a half feet they're also the second-heaviest lizard in the world perhaps owing to their terrible size in Thailand the local name for the creature Kea is actually an insult and denotes bad luck. 

number nine the Burmese python among the largest of the world's snakes is this king of tropical Southeast Asia despite their muted color palette of brown and black splotches over a tan body they are almost instantly recognizable not least of all for their size in the wild the Burmese python can reach an average length of 12 feet however, if they have been known to grow to almost 19 feet native to South and Southeast Asia, they've become an invasive species in the southern United States after a Python breeding facility was broken open during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 they are now banned for import to the US.

number eight the reticulated python it may come as a surprise but this python rather than the Anaconda is actually the longest snake in the world during a study of more than a thousand wild reticulated pythons in southern Sumatra the average length was estimated at a range from a modest 4.9 to an incredible 21.3 feet meanwhile an example in Indonesia was measured at 22.8 feet and in the 1950s the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG aquarium was home to the aptly named Colossus who was claimed to be over 28 feet long although that number later became heavily contested still these guys can get huge. 

number seven the alligator snapping turtle you don't have to belong to be a formidable reptile often associated although not closely related to the common snapping turtle the alligator snapping turtle is among the heaviest freshwater turtles in the world so named because of its sharp plated shell heavy head and crazy powerful jaws this is one dude, you do not want anywhere near your toes found in the southeastern United States the heaviest confirmed of this species lived at the aquarium in Chicago and weighed in at 249 pounds not normally such monsters they're typically on a spectrum of 19 to 179 pounds. 

number six the Bushmaster while the non-venomous reticulated python might have the top spot for the longest snake, the Bushmaster is both the longest venomous snake in the Western Hemisphere and the longest Viper in the world under its scientific name Lachesis the snakes are poignant Lee named after the second of the three fates in Greek mythology specifically the one who measured out the length of the thread of life on average varying from six and a half to 13 feet in length they've been known to reach just under 15 feet earning them their title. 

number five the Nile crocodile this African crocodile is a contender for the second the largest reptile in the world an apex predator, it's one of the deadliest Crocs in the world and will take down almost anything in snapping distance an opportunistic ambush hunter, it will wait hours even days for the right moment on average the male's of the species can reach up to 16 feet five inches and over 1,500 pounds however they have been accurately recorded up to 20 feet deadly abundant and roaming the earth since the plyo Pleistocene period about 5 million years ago these guys were represented in the Egyptian pantheon of God's. 

number four the leatherback sea turtle unlike most other Turtles the leatherback sea turtle lacks a hard shell but instead is protected by thick oily even leathery skin hence the name however despite its lack of a bulky shell the leatherback is the largest and heaviest extant turtle its front flippers alone can grow up to nearly 9 feet in span with a wide distribution the largest confirmed leatherback was found in San spit Pakistan measuring at just under 7 feet long and weighing in at 1,400 and 33 pounds despite their immense weight they are almost perfectly hydrodynamical and incredibly graceful once in the water.

number three the green anaconda when people think of big snakes it's usually this King beast that comes to mind while nearly as long as the reticulated python it often has double the girth making for a stunningly sizable snake there's no doubt that it's something of a monster however it is considered to be one of the most exaggerated species in terms of size and many historical accounts are thought to be unreliable the current maximum estimated and verified length is just over 17 feet and 215 pounds however in the unexplored areas of the Amazonian rainforest it's thought that there are larger examples. 

number two the Komodo dragon is also known as the Komodo monitor this creature is found on various Indonesian islands a member of the family variety Komodo is the largest living lizard species achieving maximum lengths of 10 feet and a recorded weight of 366 pounds their colossal size is attributed to the island effect wherein isolated species veer to either dwarfism or gigantism it's also thought that the Komodo dragon may be a relic of the Pleistocene period surviving after all another megafauna in the area died out before we unveil our number one pick here are some honorable mentions. 

number one the saltwater crocodile is the largest extant reptile and the largest river dwelling predator on earth reaching lengths of 23 feet and weighing up to 4,400 pounds they are roughly the size of a great white shark the earliest the fossil record of this croc dates from around four-and-a-half million years ago with no known subspecies it's considered an ancient species that could have diverged up to 12 million years ago able to live in marine environments as well as freshwater they have the greatest distribution of any modern croc and are the most dangerous to humans because they're the closest we have to the dinosaur you