Komodo dragons are the largest lizard still living on Earth, but they are not the largest reptile. Alligators and crocodiles get bigger than Komodo dragons.
Komodo dragons are a monitor lizard. Their scientific name is Varanus komodoensis. They grow to 3m in length and can weigh as much as 150kg. While they are usually slow moving, they can put on spurts of speed of 30km per hour.
Komodo dragons drool copiously. Their saliva is not venomous, but the mouth of a Komodo dragon is so full of bacteria that a bite from one almost always leads to infection. If untreated, the infection is usually fatal. This is one way in which the dragons get food. They hide in the scraggly jungle and wait for a victim to pass by. The victim is most often a deer, carabao or goat. The dragon attacks the prey, and may succeed in killing it on the spot. Otherwise, the bites sustained by the victim will generally kill it eventually, and the dragons will then eat the carrion.
However, recent studies have shown that the saliva of the Dragon is not the main reason why prey dies from a Dragon bite. It has been discovered that the Dragon produces venom that is passed into the prey through the bite. The venom is not transmitted through ducts in the teeth like a snake, but squeezed out of venom glands between the teeth. The venom then mixes with the saliva in the bite. It is extremely toxic and usually causes death to larger beasts such as deer and buffalo within a day.
The giant lizards have powerful claws which they use to devastating effect in fights with other lizards. Males have scratching fights with each other during mating season. Claw marks can be seen on large trees around the park where Dragons have sharpened their claws.
The folds in the Dragon's skin are there for 2 reasons. The first is to protect the Dragon when they are battling for a mate and the second is so their bodies can expand once they have eaten their prey. The Dragon can eat up to 80% of its body weight in one sitting.
The forked tongue made famous by Chinese merchants who came to the Komodos over 1000 years ago. The fork allows the Komodo Dragon to smell effectively in "stereo" sensing which direction the smell is coming from. The Dragons have been known to pick up a sent from 4km away.
Komodo dragons can swim, and they have been known to swim to small islands off the coast of Rinca and Komodo. Though the Dragons are ectotherms and therefor are not able to stay in the water for too long to avoid lowering their body temperature.
The island of Komodo has many beautiful beaches where a visitor can play and swim, but the presence of Komodo dragon foot-and tail-prints in the sand warns the visitor to be cautious and watchful.
Some of Komodo's beaches have beautiful pink sand, tinted by fragments of red coral mixed in with other shell and coral fragments. Other beaches have gray sand derived from cliffs of rhyolite. Heavy black sand composed of nearly pure magnetite accumulates next to the cliffs.
The snorkeling and diving around Komodo are some of the best in the world, especially for seeing soft corals. A professional diver told us, "You know, when you're a diver, you spend your life dreaming of and searching for the best dive site in the world. Well, Komodo is it."
Komodo dragons are a monitor lizard. Their scientific name is Varanus komodoensis. They grow to 3m in length and can weigh as much as 150kg. While they are usually slow moving, they can put on spurts of speed of 30km per hour.
Komodo dragons drool copiously. Their saliva is not venomous, but the mouth of a Komodo dragon is so full of bacteria that a bite from one almost always leads to infection. If untreated, the infection is usually fatal. This is one way in which the dragons get food. They hide in the scraggly jungle and wait for a victim to pass by. The victim is most often a deer, carabao or goat. The dragon attacks the prey, and may succeed in killing it on the spot. Otherwise, the bites sustained by the victim will generally kill it eventually, and the dragons will then eat the carrion.
However, recent studies have shown that the saliva of the Dragon is not the main reason why prey dies from a Dragon bite. It has been discovered that the Dragon produces venom that is passed into the prey through the bite. The venom is not transmitted through ducts in the teeth like a snake, but squeezed out of venom glands between the teeth. The venom then mixes with the saliva in the bite. It is extremely toxic and usually causes death to larger beasts such as deer and buffalo within a day.
The giant lizards have powerful claws which they use to devastating effect in fights with other lizards. Males have scratching fights with each other during mating season. Claw marks can be seen on large trees around the park where Dragons have sharpened their claws.
The folds in the Dragon's skin are there for 2 reasons. The first is to protect the Dragon when they are battling for a mate and the second is so their bodies can expand once they have eaten their prey. The Dragon can eat up to 80% of its body weight in one sitting.
The forked tongue made famous by Chinese merchants who came to the Komodos over 1000 years ago. The fork allows the Komodo Dragon to smell effectively in "stereo" sensing which direction the smell is coming from. The Dragons have been known to pick up a sent from 4km away.
Komodo dragons can swim, and they have been known to swim to small islands off the coast of Rinca and Komodo. Though the Dragons are ectotherms and therefor are not able to stay in the water for too long to avoid lowering their body temperature.
The island of Komodo has many beautiful beaches where a visitor can play and swim, but the presence of Komodo dragon foot-and tail-prints in the sand warns the visitor to be cautious and watchful.
Some of Komodo's beaches have beautiful pink sand, tinted by fragments of red coral mixed in with other shell and coral fragments. Other beaches have gray sand derived from cliffs of rhyolite. Heavy black sand composed of nearly pure magnetite accumulates next to the cliffs.
The snorkeling and diving around Komodo are some of the best in the world, especially for seeing soft corals. A professional diver told us, "You know, when you're a diver, you spend your life dreaming of and searching for the best dive site in the world. Well, Komodo is it."