Komodo dragon

The komodo dragon, komodo dragon, dragon lizard or komodo lizard is a type of lizard limited to its presence on a few Indonesian islands, namely: Komodo, Herring, Floris, and Velidar Mutan. These lizards belong to the family of virgins, which are the largest of the remaining lizards in size, from large reptiles with a large body, strong claws and long tails, and the length of the adults of them may exceed three meters (10 feet), and in some exceptional cases, they can reach a weight of about 70 kilograms ( 150 lbs)

Komodo dragons dominate the natural ecosystems they inhabit, an inevitable consequence of their large size. These dragons hunt by ambushing their prey, which includes a wide range of invertebrates, birds and mammals. It is said that its poisonous bite kills its prey over a period of a few days, and some scientists have suggested that the two glands in its lower jaws secrete several toxic proteins, but there is no consensus on this saying, and the importance of these proteins and their biological role is still the subject of controversy. They secrete an anticoagulant

The behavior of collective Komodo dragons when hunting and foraging is distinguished among lizards, and the most prominent prey of which are the grouse of the Javanese, as they hunt wild boars and water buffaloes as well, as they feed on carrion, and can sometimes attack humans

The Komodo dragon began its historical development from the genus of warblers, a type of lizard that appeared in the continent of Asia 40 million years ago and moved from it to Australia, and there it evolved into a genus of giant lizards (the largest of which is the recently extinct Megalania, which reached a length of five meters), a metamorphosis that was It is caused by a lack of competition from other carnivores, such as placentals. Roughly 15 million years ago, it collided and made contact with Australia and Southeast Asia, allowing the ancestors of the Komodo dragon to return to the Indonesian islands.

With this, the territory of his life was expanded to reach the island of Timor. It was previously believed that the Komodo dragon evolved from sermons that lived in Australia four million years ago, but recent fossil findings in Queensland (eastern Australia) suggest that the dragon evolved on the continent of Australia itself and then moved to the Indonesian archipelago. Accelerating sea level decline in the last Ice Age revealed vast continental shelves where Komodo dragons have settled.

But when the sea level rose again after the end of the Ice Age, these dragons became locked into the current islands confined to them. Fossils of extinct species of lizards (from the near modern period - the Pleocene) similar to Komodo dragons were discovered in the Eurasian region, indicating that this animal lived well in environments crowded with competition from other meaty bulbs until the climate change phenomenon ceased and the mass extinction occurred at the end of the modern era near.

An adult Komodo dragon in the wild usually weighs about 70 kilograms, while in captivity it usually gains more than that. According to the Guinness Book of Records, an adult male Komodo dragon weighs an average of 79 to 91 kg and is 2.59 meters long, while a female weighs 68 to 73 kg and measures only 2.29 meters in length. The largest scientifically recorded dragon was 3.13 meters tall and weighed 166 kilograms (although this weight includes undigested food in its stomach).

The tail of the Komodo Dragon is as long as the rest of its body. This animal has 60 serrated teeth in its mouth, each of which reaches 2.5 centimeters in length, and its teeth often fall out and others appear in their place. And his saliva usually looks like blood, because his gum tissue almost completely covers his teeth, so his teeth tear his gums (as a result of a natural adaptation) every time he eats food. This animal is distinguished by its long, yellow, bifurcated tongue (divided into two parts at its edge, such as the head of a fork). Armored scales that contain tiny bones support the skin of a Komodo dragon, which act like a natural protective suit. Because of these scales, the skin of this animal is not suitable for manufacturing leather products.