All About Komodo Dragon!
Komodo Dragon, or Komodo monitor, is the largest and most heavy lizard in the world - and one of the few with a toxic bite. These secret and powerful hunters entrust themselves to their sense of smell to detect food, using their long and forkful languages to taste the air. They can wait for hours for a large meal to get in range before launching a deadly attack with their large, curved, jagged teeth.
Physical Description
Komodo dragons have huge heads with horns making their skin a bright yellow and going from orange on the back to brown, black, and white on the belly. They are called Komodo dragons because their name comes from the word for crocodile and is a reference to their large jaws which help them crush hard kangaroos, rabbits, snakes, and other prey. Komodo dragons can reach more than 10 feet in length although they are a lot smaller than the average size of a dragon nowadays.
The muscle of the Komodo's jaw is too highly developed to have been developed over such a short time period. It would have taken a lot of time and effort, but there is little doubt that the komodo would love to be able to effortlessly swallow huge chunks of meat with astonishing rapidity!
The stomach expands to accommodate an artificial stomach, enabling some adult humans to consume up to 80% of their body weight in a single meal. This is probably similar to the claims being made for the record 25 grams in a 90 kg male. The Komodo dragon pups when threatened will throw their stomachs out to push them away from the predator.
There are no male morphological differences that define the sexes. "Caudal elongation" is wholly physical and not a sign of a hormonal preference. As with all other genders, you can be male or female! Sexing Komodos remains a challenge for human researchers; the dragons themselves appear to have little trouble figuring out who is who.
Size
In ancient times, dragons were worshiped for their strength and intelligence. They were often kept as guardians and models in artists' studios. Dictionaries can be found covering the history of dragons throughout the world starting hundreds of years ago.
A noted work of translation research carried out by Dr. Daniel Graf and his team of academics at the University of Amsterdam has revealed that males tend to grow larger, while females tend to grow smaller. The study was conducted with a large sample size from across Europe.
Native Habitat
The Komodo dragon or Julandus is a giant lizard found only in Indonesia and as far as the eye can see. The animal has long, thin, greenish-brown limbs coated with tough scales; a body covered in armor of bones and tubes that double back on themselves like those of an octopus before they attach to the target's body.
It is not known what its diet is, although it has been observed to snatch up and eat fish. The Komodo dragon has a long recorded history of being one of the rarest animals in both Indonesia and the world. The last was believed to have been shot in 1963 (the longest-known record).
They have a range of strikingly distinct shapes, from those with thick trunks to those that maintain the posture for life.
Food/Eating Habits
Komodo dragons are native to the Komodo Islands of Indonesia, where they have proved exceptionally successful ecologically (they eat almost anything). Their favorite prey is Tapirus terrestris, which mates with Komodo dragons after a brief courtship.
The juvenile dragons will flitter around the islands and scavenge carcasses when they are abundant. When they reach the age of 5, they move on to larger prey such as rodents, monkeys, goats, wild boars, and deer (the most popular meal). Tertiary predators at the top of their food chain, these reptiles are also cannibalistic.
Although the Komodo dragon can briefly reach speeds of 16 to 20 km/h, its hunting strategy is based on stealth and power. It can spend hours in one spot along a game trail, waiting for a deer or other large, nutritious prey to cross its path before launching an attack.
Most of the monitor lizard's attempts to kill prey are unsuccessful. However, if it is able to bite its prey, the bacteria and venom in its saliva will kill the prey within days. After the animal's death, which can take up to four days, the Komodo uses its powerful sense of smell to locate the body. A kill is often shared among many Komodo dragons.
Monitors can see objects up to 300 meters away, so sight plays a role in hunting, especially since their eyes are better at picking up motion than at distinguishing stationary objects. Their retinas only have cones, so they can distinguish colors but see poorly in low light. They have a much smaller hearing range than humans, so they can't hear sounds like deep voices or high-pitched screams.
The Komodo dragon's sense of smell is the most important food detector. It uses its long, forked yellow tongue to savor the air. Then he moves the forked tip of his tongue to the palate where it comes into contact with Jacobson's organs.
These chemical analyzers "smell" prey like deer by detecting molecules in the air. When the concentration of molecules on the tip of the left tongue is higher than the sample on the right, the Komodo dragon knows that the deer is approaching from the left. This system, together with an undulating gait in which the head bobs from side to side, helps the kite detect the presence and direction of food. Sometimes these reptiles can smell carrion or rotting meat up to 4 kilometers away.
This lizard's large, curved, serrated teeth are its deadliest weapon, shredding meat efficiently. The teeth of teeth contain pieces of meat from the most recent meal, and this protein-rich residue supports a large number of bacteria. About 50 different strains of bacteria have been found in saliva, at least seven of which are highly septic. The researchers also documented a poisonous gland in the dragon's lower jaw. In addition to harmful bacteria, the poison prevents blood from clotting, causing massive blood loss and shock.
The Komodo bite can be fatal, but not to another Komodo dragon. Battle-wounded seems unaffected by bacteria and venom. Scientists are looking for antibodies in Komodo dragon blood that may be responsible for this. The lizard's throat and neck muscles allow it to quickly swallow large chunks of meat.
Several movable joints, such as the intramandibular joint, open the lower jaw unusually wide. The dragon's stomach also expands easily, allowing an adult to consume up to 80% of their body weight per meal. When threatened, Komodo dragons may vomit up their stomach contents to reduce their weight and flee.
Komodo dragons are efficient feeders, leaving only about 12% of their prey behind. They eat bones, hooves, and parts of the skin, as well as intestines (after swinging them to loosen the contents). At the National Zoo, the Komodo dragon eats rodents, chicks, and rabbits. Occasionally, he consumes fish and beef carcass meals.
Social Structure
As the large Komodos slaughter the young, the young often wallow in the droppings, picking up an odor that the large dragons are programmed to avoid. Young dragons are also put through rituals of appeasement, with the smaller lizards walking around a feeding circle in a stately ritualized gait. Their tails are erect and they shake their bodies from side to side in exaggerated convulsions.
Reproduction and Development
Determining the sex of a Komodo dragon is a challenge for researchers because there are no apparent morphological differences to distinguish males from females. A subtle clue is a slight difference in the arrangement of the scales just in front of the vent. Courtship opportunities arise when groups congregate around carrion to feed, and mating occurs between May and August.
Dominant males compete with females in ritual fights. Using their tail for support, they struggle in an upright posture, gripping each other with their front legs as they attempt to knock the opponent to the ground. Blood is often drawn and the loser will run away or lie and standstill. Females lay about 30 eggs in burrows dug into hillsides or in the stolen nests of megapodes - large chicken-like birds that build nests of piled earth mixed with twigs up to 1 meter (3 feet) and can be 10 feet long (3 meters) wide.
Egg-laying may be delayed, which could help the brood avoid the brutally hot months of the dry season. Additionally, unfertilized eggs may have a second chance in subsequent mating. While the eggs incubate in the nest for about nine months, the female can lie down on the nest to protect the eggs. There is no evidence of parental care for newborn Komodos.
The fry weighs less than 100 grams and is on average 40 centimeters long. Their early years are precarious and they often fall victim to predators, including other Komodo dragons. At 5 years old they weigh around 55 pounds (25 kilograms) and are on average 6 feet (2 meters) long. At this time, they begin to hunt larger prey. They continue to grow slowly throughout life.
Sleep Habits
They are covert and quickly-moving creatures that can easily move around at night thanks to their magically incited keen hearing. They also have the ability to sight but that doesn't mean they become visible in the dark, because birds don't see in the dark.
Lifespan
Although there are estimates of the number of Komodo dragons living in the wild and in captivity, these estimates are still tentative. The exact numbers are difficult to determine because only a small proportion of animals from each population live long enough to be documented.
