Animal: Komodo Dragon

Scientific Name: Varanus Komodoensis

Animal Type: Reptile

Habitats: Island

The Komodo Dragon:

The Komodo Dragon is a species of lizard which inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Gili Dasami in central Indonesia.

Komodo dragons were only discovered by Western scientists in 1910. Their large size and fearsome reputation makes them popular zoo exhibits.

Physical Characteristics:

The Komodo is the largest living species of lizard, growing to an average length of 2-3 meters (approximately 6.5-10 ft). This great length is attributed to island gigantism, as there are no carnivorous mammals to fill the niche in the islands that they live on, and the Komodo dragon's low metabolic rate. As a result of their great size, these lizards are apex predators, dominating the ecosystems in which they live.

Komodo dragons' sense of hearing is not particularly acute, despite their visible earholes. Komodo Dragons are thought to have poor night vision. They are able to see in color but have poor visual discrimination of stationary objects. They use their tongue to detect taste and smell. They have no taste buds on their tongues, only a few in the back of the throat. Their scales, some reinforced with bone, have sensory plaques connected to nerves that facilitate their sense of touch. The scales around the ears, lips, chin, and soles of the feet may have three or more sensory plaques.

Food Chain:

Komodo dragons are carnivores, although they eat mostly carrion. When suitable prey arrives near a dragon's ambush site, it will suddenly charge at the animal and go for the underside or the throat. Komodo dragons eat by tearing large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole while holding the carcass down with their forelegs. The copious amounts of red saliva that the Komodo dragons produce helps to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process. To prevent itself from suffocating while swallowing, it breathes using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs. The Komodo dragon's loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allows it to eat up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal.

After eating, it drags itself to a sunny spot to speed digestion, as the food could rot and poison the dragon if left undigested for too long. Because of their slow metabolism, large dragons can survive on as little as 12 meals a year. After digestion, the Komodo dragon regurgitates a mass of horns, hair, and teeth known as the gastric pellet, which is covered in malodorous mucus. After regurgitating the gastric pellet, it rubs its face in the dirt or on bushes to get rid of the mucus, suggesting that it, like humans, does not relish the scent of its own mucus.

The dragon's diet is wide-ranging, and includes invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo Dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boars, goats, deer, horses, and water buffalos. Young Komodos will eat insects, eggs, geckoes, and small mammals. Occasionally they have been known to consume humans and human corpses, digging up bodies from shallow graves to do so. Because the Komodo dragon does not have a diaphragm, it cannot suck water when drinking, nor can it lap water with its tongue. Instead, it drinks by taking a mouthful of water, lifting its head, and letting the water run down its throat.

Habitat features:

They prefer hot and dry places, and typically live in dry open grassland, savanna and tropical forest at low elevations. As ectotherms, they are most active in the day, although they do exhibit some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are largely solitary, coming together only to breed and eat. They are capable of running rapidly in brief sprints (up to 12.4 mph), are excellent swimmers (may dive up to 15 ft), and climb trees proficiently through use of their strong claws.