13 Facts About Komodo dragon

Komodo dragon, 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.

Komodo dragon was the driving factor for an expedition to Komodo Island by W Douglas Burden in 1926.

Komodo dragon is sometimes known as the Komodo monitor or the Komodo Island monitor in scientific literature, although this name is uncommon.

However, fossil evidence from Queensland suggests the Komodo dragon actually evolved in Australia, before spreading to Indonesia.

Dramatic lowering of sea level during the last glacial period uncovered extensive stretches of continental shelf that the Komodo dragon colonised, becoming isolated in their present island range as sea levels rose afterwards.

Related searches

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.

Komodo dragon skin is reinforced by armoured scales, which contain tiny bones called osteoderms that function as a sort of natural chain-mail.

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.

Komodo dragon prefers hot and dry places and typically lives in dry, open grassland, savanna, and tropical forest at low elevations.

Komodo dragon's diet is wide-ranging, and includes invertebrates, other reptiles, birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boar, goats, pigs, deer, horses, and water buffalo.

On 20 December 2006, it was reported that Flora, a captive Komodo dragon living in the Chester Zoo in England, was the second known Komodo dragon to have laid unfertilised eggs: she laid 11 eggs, and seven of them hatched, all of them male.

Komodo dragon is classified by the IUCN as Endangered and is listed on the IUCN Red List.

In June 2001, a Komodo dragon seriously injured Phil Bronstein, the then-husband of actress Sharon Stone, when he entered its enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo after being invited in by its keeper.