The Animal Komodo

Varanus komodoensis

Komodo dragons or Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest species of lizard in the world that lives on the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Gili Dasami in Nusa Tenggara.Komodo this by the native island of Komodo also called by the local name ora.

Including members of the Varanidae lizard family, and klad Toxicofera, komodo is the largest lizard in the world, with an average length of 2-3 m. This large size is associated with island gigantism, which is the tendency of meraksasanya body of certain animals that live on the small island associated with the absence of carnivorous mammals on the island where the life of the dragons, and the rate of small Komodo metabolism. Because of its large body, this lizard occupies the position of the top predator that dominates the ecosystem where he lives.

His big body and terrible reputation make them popular at the zoo. The habitat of dragons in the wild has dwindled by human activity and hence IUCN incorporates Komodo as a species susceptible to extinction. The large lizard is now protected under Indonesian government regulations and a national park, Komodo National Park, was established to protect them.

The mating season occurs between May and August

The mating season occurs between May and August, and Komodo dragons are laid in September. During this period, the male dragons fought to defend the females and their territories by "wrestling" with other males while standing on their hind legs. The losing Komodo will fall and "locked" to the ground. Both dragons can vomit or defecate when preparing for combat.The winner of the battle will flick his long tongue on the female's body to see her acceptance. Female dragons are antagonistic and fight with their teeth and claws during the early phase of pairs. Furthermore, the males must fully control the female during intercourse so as not to get hurt. Another behavior that is shown during this process is that males rub their chin on the female, scratching hard on their backs and licking. Copulation occurs when the males enter one of the hemipenisnya into the female cloaca. Komodo dragons can be monogamous and form "pairs," a rare trait for lizards.The females will lay their eggs in the pit, scratch the cliff of a hill or mound of an abandoned orange-footed nest. Komodo prefer to keep the eggs in the nest that has been abandoned. An average Komodo dragon contains 20 eggs that will hatch after 7-8 months. The female lies on the eggs to incubate and protect her until they hatch around April, at the end of the rainy season when there are so many insects.The hatching process is an exhausting effort for the Komodo dragon, which comes out of the egg shell after tearing it with an egg tooth that will be dated after the heavy work is done. After successfully tearing the eggshell, baby dragons can lie on their egg shells for several hours before starting digging out their nests. When hatching, these babies are less powerful and predator-prone.Young Komodo dragons spend their first years on trees, where they are relatively safe from predators, including from the cannibalized cannibal dragons, of which about 10% of the food is young lizards that are successfully hunted. Komodo takes three to five years to become an adult, and can live more than 50 years.In addition to the normal reproductive process, there are several examples of cases of female dragons producing children without the presence of males (parthenogenesis), a phenomenon also known to occur in some other reptile species such as Cnemidophorus.

Komodo was first documented by Europeans in 1910. Its name expanded after 1912, when Pieter Antonie Ouwens, director of the Zoology Museum in Buitenzorg (now Bogor), published a paper on dragons after receiving photographs and skins of these reptiles. Later on, the Komodo dragons were the driving force for the expedition to Komodo Island by W. Douglas Burden in 1926. After returning with 12 preserved specimens and 2 live dragons, this expedition inspired King Kong's 1933 film. W. Douglas Burden was a person the first to give the name "Komodo dragon" to this animal. Three of the specimens of the Komodo dragons that were acquired were reshaped into animal displays and are still preserved in the American Museum of Natural History.

Indonesia Rupiah Coins with Komodo Drawings

 The evolution of the Komodo dragon began with the Varanus clan, which emerged in Asia some 40 million years ago and then migrated to Australia. About 15 million years ago, the encounter of the continents of Australia and Southeast Asia allowed the lizards to move into what is now Indonesia. Komodo dragons are believed to have evolved from their Australian ancestors some 4 million years ago, and have expanded their territory eastward as far as Timor. Changes in sea level since the Ice Age have made Komodo dragons limited to their current distribution area.
Komodo dragons are carnivorous animals. Although they mostly eat carcass, research shows that they also hunt live prey by sneaking followed by a sudden attack on the victim. When the prey comes near the hiding place of the dragons, the animal immediately attacks it on the underside of the body or throat. Komodo dragons can find their prey by using a keen sense of smell, which can find dead or dying animals at a distance of up to 9.5 kilometers. The young dragons in Rinca eat the carcass of a carcass.This ancient reptile ate by tearing away large chunks of meat and then swallowing it round while its front legs held its prey. For small to large prey to goats, it could be the meat is consumed once a swallow. The contents of the prey in the form of plants are usually left untouched.Salads are reddish and come out in large quantities very help dragons in swallowing prey. However, the process of swallowing still takes a long time; 15-20 minutes is needed to swallow a goat. Komodo sometimes try to speed up the process of swallowing it by emphasizing the carcass of its prey to a tree, so that the carcass can enter through the esophagus. And sometimes the pressure was so hard that the tree fell.To avoid getting choked when swallowing, the dragon breathes through a small channel under the tongue, which is directly related to the lungs. Its jaws can be developed freely, its flexible skull, and its incredibly stretchy stomach allows the Komodo dragon to eat large prey, up to 80% of its own body weight in a single meal.After a meal, dragons walk dragging his body that satiates in search of sunlight to sunbathe and speed up the process of digestion. Otherwise, the food can rot in his stomach and poison his own body. Due to its sluggish metabolism, large dragons can survive by eating only 12 times a year or about once a month.After the prey's meat is digested, the Komodo drum spews the remains of horns, hair and teeth of its prey, in clumps mixed with sour smelling mucus, which lumps are known as gastric pellets. After that dragons sweep his face to the ground or to the bushes to clean up the remnants of mucus that is still attached, the behavior that raises the notion that dragons, like humans, do not like the smell of saliva itself.In the collection, the largest dragons usually eat first, followed by smaller ones according to the hierarchy. The largest males show their dominance through body language and hiss; who was welcomed in the same language by other smaller males to show his confession of that power. Komodo of the same size will probably fight against powers, by way of some kind of wrestling lizards, until one of them admits defeat and retreat; though sometimes losers can be killed in a fight and preyed on by the winner.Komodo dragon macaques vary widely, including a variety of invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller, smaller), birds and eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild pigs, goats, deer, horses and buffalo. Young Komodo prey on insects, eggs, lizards, and small mammals. Sometimes dragons also prey on humans and corpses dug from shallow grave holes. This habit caused the inhabitants of Komodo Island to avoid sandy soil and chose to bury the corpse in clay, and covered it with stones to keep from being dragged.Others suspect that the Komodo dragon evolved to prey on Stegodon dwarf elephants that once lived on Flores. Komodo dragons have also been observed when shocking and frightening pregnant female deer, in the hope that the miscarriage and carcass of the fetus may be preyed, a behavior that is also found in large predators in Africa.Because it does not have a body cavity, dragons can not breathe water or lick water for drinking (like a cat). Instead, Komodo dragged 'water with all its mouth, then lifted its head for water to flow into its stomach.
moso can I review the article kodo animals 
note :
 some of these files I quoted a bit from:
 https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo