Because of its growing popularity in the west, however, the Dutch made hunting Komodo dragons illegal and regulated the lizards that were taken for study.
It has serrated teeth, rough skin, and crawls on four limbs. However, a crocodile has a longer mouth and more visible teeth. A Komodo dragon takes up to nine years to become a full-grown adult and can live for around 30 years. Like other monitor lizards, Komodo dragons reproduce by mating sometime by the second or third quarter of the year between May and August and then laying their eggs in a nesting hole around September.
One Komodo dragon can produce around 20 eggs per lay before incubating their eggs for up to eight months. The Komodo dragon is the biggest extant monitor lizard, with some growing as long as 3 meters long and weighting around 70 kilograms. It used to come second to its cousins, the giant lizards under the Megalania genus that went extinct as late as 50, years ago. But had they been alive, fossil evidence suggests that the largest of them could have been 7 meters long and up to kilograms.
Their size makes them one of the more dangerous lizards to deal with, but it also means they cannot climb trees in the way that smaller monitor lizards can. However, aside from size, they do share similarities like color usually gray or brown skin and body proportions. If we were to shrink a Komodo dragon, it could actually look similar to many of the smaller monitor lizards like the Bengal monitor. However, due to its size and weight, baby Komodo dragons stand out from other monitors because of their thicker, stubbier legs and shorter tail.
Most monitors are much more slender in comparison. Most researchers believe that its size is the product of both genetic evolution and island gigantism. One theory goes that the Komodo dragon is the product of other related lizards that bred and created the Komodo dragon before dying out similar to the way that the Megalania lizards went extinct.
Another theory suggests that since the Komodo dragon only exists in certain parts of Indonesia, there were no other carnivores to compete with, thus making it grow in size due to the non-competition for prey. In an ecosystem where a Komodo dragon exists, it dominates the ecosystem where it lives.
The species have become predominant in the reptile pet trade, the most common reptile kept is savannah monitor and Ackies monitor. Due to the calm behavior, small size and low maintenance of these two lizards.
According to the IUCN red list, the species of monitor lizard are categorized as least concern. Still, their population is gradually decreasing because the skin of these reptiles is used in making Carnatic music instrument known a Kanjira. Also read interesting dog bad breath home remedy. Like monitor lizard, Komodo dragon also belongs to the genus Varanus, and these are the giant living lizards in the world. Komodo dragon was concluded for the first time in the year outside Indonesia, at the Smithsonian Zoo.
The zoo report discloses that four clutches have hatched and 55 offspring is now living in more than 30 zoos across the world. These dragons come in a variety of colours, including green, grey, orange, and blue. They have long claws, and a huge, muscular tail. Their skin is rough and sturdy assisted with bony plates called Osteoderms. The species have an excellent eye vision and can see objects from as far as m.
Komodo dragons are also speedy and can run at a speed of 13 mph. Still, they prefer to hunt by waiting for hours till their prey crosses their path. The Komodo dragons have a unique way of killing their prey. First, they knock the prey with its giant feet; then they use their sharp and notched teeth to shred their prey to death. Even, if the victim escapes, it will die within 24 hours of blood poisoning as the saliva of these dragons contains 50 strains of bacteria.
Komodo dragons are solitary and come together only during the mating season. The mating period takes place between May and August, and the females lay around 30 eggs in September. At the time of the birth, baby dragons are about 12 inches long. The females can create offspring through asexual reproduction. Komodo dragons can produce both sexual and asexual reproduction. Komodo dragons are monitors, any of various dragonlike, mostly tropical lizards.
A monitor lizard has a heavy body, long head and neck, long tail that comes to a whiplike end, and strong legs with sharp claws. Its slender, forked tongue is protrusible. Monitors range in size from the 8 inch short-tailed species of West Australia to 10 feet, lb. Some monitor species spend their lives in trees, and others inhabit lakes and rivers; they can be found on the oceanic islands and continents of the Eastern Hemisphere in all types of warm habitats, from tropical forest to desert.
Komodo dragons, the giant among living lizards, live on the small Indonesian island of Komodo. Monitors feed on various kinds of animal matter, including eggs, rats, frogs, and decaying meat. The larger species will attack small deer and pigs. They often tear the prey with claws and teeth, but generally swallow it whole or in large chunks. Monitors lay from 7 to 35 leathery eggs, usually in holes in the ground or in trees. Reptiles are of the order Squamata, which also includes the snake.
Lizards form the suborder Sauria, and there are over 3, lizard species distributed throughout the world except for the polar regions , with the greatest number found in warm climates. Lizards typically have four legs with five toes on each foot, although a few, such as the worm lizard and the so-called glass snake, are limbless, retaining only internal vestiges of legs.
Lizards are also distinguished from snakes by having ear openings, movable eyelids, and less flexible jaws. As in snakes, there is a chemosensory organ opening in the roof of the mouth. The tongue, which may be short and wide, slender and forked, or highly extendible, conveys particles from the environment to this organ. The skin of the lizard is scaly and in most species is molted in irregular patches. Members of several lizard families, notably the chameleons, undergo color changes under the influence of environmental and emotional stimuli.
Many lizards are arboreal, and many terrestrial species are well adapted for climbing. They are often fast runners, some achieving speeds of over 15 mph.
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