Komodo Dragon

Varanus komodoensis

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about komodo dragons. Don’t forget to subscribe to learn more about other animals! Jamie Sutherland recommended today’s creature, so let’s get learning! We’ve talked about the longest lizards in the world on AFF previously, but today we’ll be looking at the largest.

Komodo dragons have earned their top spot as they can reach more than 10 feet (3.05m) in length and weigh more than 300 pounds (136kg). Their bulky size might seem a hindrance in terms of traversing their landscape, but komodo dragons can actually run more than 10 miles per hour (16kph) for short distances. Seeing as how the average person also runs at just over 10 miles per hour at top speed, it seems safe to say you wouldn’t want to be chased by a komodo dragon. Unless you’re into that sort of thing. We aren’t judging.

If you are into that sort of thing, let’s hope you’re also into wet kisses on the lips... or any other accessible body part because that’s likely what you would get from a komodo dragon, and it would be the kiss of death. There’s been circulation of the idea that komodo dragons have super toxic spit that slowly kills a komodo’s victim over time due to bacteria infecting the open wounds that komodo dragon’s inflict with their bite. Supposedly, this isn’t entirely accurate. More recent research has shown that komodo dragons actually have venom which they secrete into the bite wounds of their prey along with any potentially bacteria laden slobber.

This nasty combination of venom, spit, and just straight up vicious bites all add to create an apex predator. They’re still adorable, though. The animals they sink their teeth into include boars, deer, and even water buffalo. A komodo dragon’s bite force isn’t terribly strong, but they can rip through their meals due to serrations present on their teeth. In one sitting, a single komodo dragon can eat up to 80% of its body weight (that’s somewhere around 240 pounds (109kg) for the big boys). To be fair, most komodo dragons prefer easier to access meals in the form of carrion. They’re able to sniff out a carcass from miles away, and on an island that’s not much bigger than 150 square miles (388.5 square km), that’s a pretty nifty skill.

Yes, the world’s largest lizards call a relatively small island their home. They’re found on islands besides Komodo, but their largest populations of komodo dragons reside there. To put it in perspective, the island of Komodo is less than 2% the size of all of Hawaii, and most of us have seen how tiny that place is on a map! So while komodo dragons prefer open, airy grasslands with nearby jungle for defensive purposes, they pretty much go everywhere on the island including the beaches and higher elevations - it’s not like they have many other choices.

Where they do have choices are ways of reproduction. Female komodo dragons are able to reproduce both sexually and via parthenogenesis, meaning they don’t need no male to produce babies. If males and females do mate, they usually do so from May to August. A female will lay somewhere around 30 eggs that she’ll bury in a nest in the sand. She’ll watch over the eggs while they incubate for nine months, but she’ll leave by the time they’re ready to hatch. This might be a blessing to her kids, though, because she otherwise may eat them. Komodo dragons are cannibalistic towards smaller individuals of their species and that’s why komodo dragons spend nearly their first year of life living in trees. The big bois can’t climb the trees because they’re too thicc, and the little guys have a safe place to develop until they’re big enough to steer clear of the adults. It can take about ten years before they’re ready to have kids of their own, and it’s guessed that komodo dragons can live to be thirty years old.

For more facts on komodo dragons, check out the links in the description. Tell us what you think about these giants in the comments. Give a thumbs up for awesome animals, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!