Download Comodo Dragon For Mac [UPD]

[Shawnda Mangicavallo]

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 m (9.8 ft), and weighing up to 70 kg (150 lb).

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As a result of their size, Komodo dragons are apex predators, and dominate the ecosystems in which they live. Komodo dragons hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals. Komodo dragons' group behavior in hunting is exceptional in the reptile world. The diet of Komodo dragons mainly consists of Javan rusa (Rusa timorensis), though they also eat considerable amounts of carrion. Komodo dragons also occasionally attack humans.

Mating begins between May and August, and the eggs are laid in September; as many as 20 eggs are deposited at a time in an abandoned megapode nest or in a self-dug nesting hole. The eggs are incubated for seven to eight months, hatching in April, when insects are most plentiful. Young Komodo dragons are vulnerable and dwell in trees to avoid predators, such as cannibalistic adults. They take 8 to 9 years to mature and are estimated to live up to 30 years.

Komodo dragons were first recorded by Western scientists in 1910. Their large size and fearsome reputation make them popular zoo exhibits. In the wild, their range has contracted due to human activities, and is likely to contract further from the effects of climate change; due to this, they are listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. They are protected under Indonesian law, and Komodo National Park was founded in 1980 to aid protection efforts.

Komodo dragons were first documented by Europeans in 1910, when rumors of a "land crocodile" reached Lieutenant van Steyn van Hensbroek of the Dutch colonial administration.[5] Widespread notoriety came after 1912, when Peter Ouwens, the director of the Zoological Museum of Bogor, Java, published a paper on the topic after receiving a photo and a skin from the lieutenant, as well as two other specimens from a collector.[4]

The first two live Komodo dragons to arrive in Europe were exhibited in the Reptile House at London Zoo when it opened in 1927.[6] Joan Beauchamp Procter made some of the earliest observations of these animals in captivity and she demonstrated their behaviour at a scientific meeting of the Zoological Society of London in 1928.[7]

The Komodo dragon was the driving factor for an expedition to Komodo Island by W. Douglas Burden in 1926. After returning with 12 preserved specimens and two live ones, this expedition provided the inspiration for the 1933 movie King Kong.[8] It was also Burden who coined the common name "Komodo dragon".[9] Three of his specimens were stuffed and are still on display in the American Museum of Natural History.[10]

The Dutch island administration, realizing the limited number of individuals in the wild, soon outlawed sport hunting and heavily limited the number of individuals taken for scientific study. Collecting expeditions ground to a halt with the occurrence of World War II, not resuming until the 1950s and 1960s, when studies examined the Komodo dragon's feeding behavior, reproduction, and body temperature. At around this time, an expedition was planned in which a long-term study of the Komodo dragon would be undertaken. This task was given to the Auffenberg family, who stayed on Komodo Island for 11 months in 1969. During their stay, Walter Auffenberg and his assistant Putra Sastrawan captured and tagged more than 50 Komodo dragons.[11]

Research from the Auffenberg expedition proved enormously influential in raising Komodo dragons in captivity.[12] Research after that of the Auffenberg family has shed more light on the nature of the Komodo dragon, with biologists such as Claudio Ciofi continuing to study the creatures.[13]

The Komodo dragon is also sometimes known as the Komodo monitor or the Komodo Island monitor in scientific literature,[14] although these names are uncommon. To the natives of Komodo Island, it is referred to as ora, buaya darat ('land crocodile'), or biawak raksasa ('giant monitor').[15][5]

Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA shows the Komodo dragon to be the closest relative (sister taxon) of the Australian lace monitor (V. varius), with their common ancestor diverging from a lineage that gave rise to the crocodile monitor (Varanus salvadorii) of New Guinea.[16][17][18] A 2021 study showed that during the late Miocene, the ancestors of Komodo dragons had hybridized with the common ancestor of Australian sand monitors (including V. spenceri, V. gouldii, V. rosenbergi and V. panoptes).[19][20][21]

Fossils from Queensland demonstrate that the Komodo dragon was once present in Australia, with fossils spanning from the Early Pliocene (3.8 million years ago) to the Middle Pleistocene.[1] The oldest records of the Komodo dragon on Flores date to around 1.4 million years ago, during the Early Pleistocene.[22] Genetic analysis indicates that the population from northern Flores is genetically distinct from other populations of the species.[2]

In the wild, adult Komodo dragons usually weigh around 70 kg (150 lb), although captive specimens often weigh more.[23] According to Guinness World Records, an average adult male will weigh 79 to 91 kg (174 to 201 lb) and measure 2.59 m (8.5 ft), while an average female will weigh 68 to 73 kg (150 to 161 lb) and measure 2.29 m (7.5 ft).[24] The largest verified specimen in captive was 3.13 m (10.3 ft) long and weighed 166 kg (366 lb), including its undigested food.[5] The largest wild specimen had a length 3.04 m (10.0 ft), a snout-vent length (SVL) 1.54 m (5 ft 1 in) and a mass of 81.5 kg (180 lb) excluding stomach contents.[25][26] The heaviest reached a mass in 87.4 kg (193 lb).[25] The study noted that weights greater than 100 kg (220 lb) were possible but only after the animal had consumed a large meal.[25][26]

The Komodo dragon has a tail as long as its body, as well as about 60 frequently replaced, serrated teeth that can measure up to 2.5 cm (1 in) in length. Its saliva is frequently blood-tinged because its teeth are almost completely covered by gingival tissue that is naturally lacerated during feeding.[27] It also has a long, yellow, deeply forked tongue.[5] Komodo dragon skin is reinforced by armoured scales, which contain tiny bones called osteoderms that function as a sort of natural chain-mail.[28][29] The only areas lacking osteoderms on the head of the adult Komodo dragon are around the eyes, nostrils, mouth margins, and pineal eye, a light-sensing organ on the top of the head. Where lizards typically have one or two varying patterns or shapes of osteoderms, komodos have four: rosette, platy, dendritic, and vermiform.[30] This rugged hide makes Komodo dragon skin a poor source of leather. Additionally, these osteoderms become more extensive and variable in shape as the Komodo dragon ages, ossifying more extensively as the lizard grows. These osteoderms are absent in hatchlings and juveniles, indicating that the natural armor develops as a product of age and competition between adults for protection in intraspecific combat over food and mates.[31]

As with other varanids, Komodo dragons have only a single ear bone, the stapes, for transferring vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the cochlea. This arrangement means they are likely restricted to sounds in the 400 to 2,000 hertz range, compared to humans who hear between 20 and 20,000 hertz.[5][32] They were formerly thought to be deaf when a study reported no agitation in wild Komodo dragons in response to whispers, raised voices, or shouts. This was disputed when London Zoo employee Joan Procter trained a captive specimen to come out to feed at the sound of her voice, even when she could not be seen.[33]

The Komodo dragon can see objects as far away as 300 m (980 ft), but because its retinas only contain cones, it is thought to have poor night vision. It can distinguish colours, but has poor visual discrimination of stationary objects.[34]

The Komodo dragon prefers hot and dry places and typically lives in dry, open grassland, savanna, and tropical forest at low elevations. As an ectotherm, it is most active in the day, although it exhibits some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are solitary, coming together only to breed and eat. They are capable of running rapidly in brief sprints up to 20 km/h (12 mph), diving up to 4.5 m (15 ft), and climbing trees proficiently when young through use of their strong claws.[23] To catch out-of-reach prey, the Komodo dragon may stand on its hind legs and use its tail as a support.[33] As it matures, its claws are used primarily as weapons, as its great size makes climbing impractical.[27]

For shelter, the Komodo dragon digs holes that can measure from 1 to 3 m (3.3 to 9.8 ft) wide with its powerful forelimbs and claws.[36] Because of its large size and habit of sleeping in these burrows, it is able to conserve body heat throughout the night and minimise its basking period the morning after.[37] The Komodo dragon stays in the shade during the hottest part of the day and hunts in the afternoon.[9] These special resting places, usually located on ridges with cool sea breezes, are marked with droppings and are cleared of vegetation. They serve as strategic locations from which to ambush deer.[38]

Komodo dragons are apex predators.[39] They are carnivores; although they have been considered as eating mostly carrion,[40] they will frequently ambush live prey with a stealthy approach. When suitable prey arrives near a dragon's ambush site, it will suddenly charge at the animal at high speeds and go for the underside or the throat.[27]

Komodo dragons do not deliberately allow the prey to escape with fatal injuries but try to kill prey outright using a combination of lacerating damage and blood loss. They have been recorded as killing wild pigs within seconds,[41] and observations of Komodo dragons tracking prey for long distances are likely misinterpreted cases of prey escaping an attack before succumbing to infection. Most prey attacked by a Komodo dragon reputedly suffer from said sepsis and will later be eaten by the same or other lizards.[42]

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