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=My __//Species: The Komodo Dragon//__ By: Victor Li=

[]: Youtube Video of Komodo Dragon babies at a zoo. media type="custom" key="24202182"media type="custom" key="24202138" width="80" height="69"

[]: Youtube video of a Komodo Dragon hunting a buffalo down withits saliva-filled jaws.

. **The Komodo Dragon is a living thing because:** it can reproduce, grow and develop, has basic needs like air, water, food, etc, and is made out of trillions of cells just like humans and other species.

**Adaptations (how it survives in its environment):**  The Komodo dragon is unique among lizards, as it is the top carnivore in its isolated environment. Long claws and very strong jaws and teeth help Komodo dragons catch and kill their prey. They are remarkably fast over short distances and can show great endurance in pursuit of deer that are their main prey. The claws are used for ripping open the bodies of prey animals. Although they have no venom, the saliva of Komodo dragons contains high concentrations of bacteria that cause severe infections in animals they attack and can eventually kill any prey animal that manages to escape. The teeth have serrated edges that saw easily through meat. Teeth that are lost are regrown throughout the life of the dragon. Four or five sets of replacement teeth may be present in the jawbone behind the exposed teeth. Because Komodo dragons can regulate their body temperature by basking in the sun or seeking shade to cool themselves, they require much less food than warm blooded carnivores such as a wild dogs or tigers. Adult Komodo dragons may be able to live on only one tenth the quantity of food needed by mammal predators of the same size. Their small island habitat therefore can sustain enough prey animals to support a healthy population of reptile predators where a mammal predator would probably soon eat itself out of "house and home". Komodo dragons swim well and have been known to cross the narrow ocean barriers between the islands they inhabit.

=**//__Specifications on Komodo Dragons:__//**=

Scientific name: Varanus komodoensis


 * Kingdom: || Animalia ||
 * Phylum: || Chordata ||
 * Subphylum: || Vertebrata ||
 * Class: || Reptilia ||
 * Order: || Squamata ||
 * Suborder: || Lacertilia ||
 * Family: || Varanidae ||
 * Genus: || //Varanus// ||
 * Subgenus: || //V. (Varanus)// ||
 * Species: || //**V. komodoensis**// ||
 * ~ Binomial name ||
 * = ** //Varanus komodoensis// ** Ouwens, 1912[2home] ||
 * = This is a chart of all the family's, names, etc for the Komodo Dragon ||

**__Grow and__ Develop:**
. It is a member of Varanidae: a lizard family

. Endangered animal status. Reason: the cause of natural disasters and human destroyment to many of the eggs that have not hatched yet. . Diet: Carnivore (meat eater)

. They are able to grow up to 3 meters long (10 feet) in length, and weigh from 70 kilograms to 150 kilograms as a adult .They are about 3 ft (1m) tall compared to a 2m tall man.


 * __//Komodo Dragon Facts//__**

. The Komodo dragon has lived in the hot climate of Indonesia for millions of years, but humans have only recently discovered them about 100 years ago. Before that, humans did not know that the Komodo dragons existed.

.When the hatchlings are born, they are multicoloured, but will change over time as they progress into adulthood. the coloures are usually brown, yellow, black, orange, black and white spots and stripes, and red.

.Baby dragons will most likely not survive to become an adult,as they usually get eaten by much bigger predators.

.If a Komodo dragon survives to the age of 5 years old, it will grow about 2.5 meters long and weigh 25 kg.


 * //__Diet/food:__//**



. This is a food chain picture for the Komodo dragon. It is on the top of its food chain, besides its only predator: humans.

.Komodo dragons are very strong and skilled predators, which makes it a top predator, with a lot of prey, and not a lot of predators.

. Komodo dragons are the most large and most powerfulest living lizard on Earth, for they can eat basically anything edible, like deer, water buffalos, pigs, smaller Komodo dragons, even human beings if there is any humans around.

. It has a stomach that is capable of eating a horrific 80 percent of its body weight when it is an adult in just one feeding (meal) and maybe even more. They will eat meat fresh and old, for they are scavengers, like vultures. If food is scarce, it will eat anything it can find. It can digest up to 2.5 kilograms minute.


 * //__Population:__//**

. The Komodo dragons have a pretty high and stable population of 3,000 to 5,000 in some islands in the world called Komodo, Gila Matang, Rinca, and Flores.


 * //__Life Span:__//**

. They can live up to 30 years and longer, depending on the food and other basic needs as well as the temperature and climate.

They grow from, 4 to 5 rows of teeth in their lifespan, so that there teeth are always sharp.

__//**Reproduction:**//__

. **It reproduces:** by mating in the May and all the way to August. the female dragons can lay about 30 eggs at a time in the month of September. The eggs hatch in April or later depending on when they mate or randomness.

. Komodo dragon baby. Newborn Komodo Dragon

. The newborn dragons are only 100 grams in weight, 40 cm long, and are defenseless. They spend most of their time when they are young in the trees, to avoiod predators, including older komodo dragons who will eat them if they locate or smell the young dragons nearby or at a farther distance.

.The newborn komodo dragons will only eat insects and small chunks of meat that will fit in their mouth, because it can not digest proper servings of meat at that stage.

The Newborns take about 8 to 9 years to fully mature.

Komodo dragons who are male and female will become sexually mature at age 5-7.

.Komodo dragons can swim, climb trees, and crawl on the ground, making hunting for food very easy and more choices are accessed to choose from.
 * //__Hunting Skills/techniques__//**

. They can see things as far as 300 meters away, so that prey is easy to find and hunt down, especially with there long forked tongue, which can smell and detect animals far as 5km away and close by, and bacteria covered jaw to infect prey with wounds of blood poisoning.

. The bacteria filled saliva in the dragons jaws have so much bacteria that if any animal it catches actually escapes, it wil usually die and suffer blood poisoning in about 24 hours after their "lucky" escape from the Komodo dragon's deatly jaws. The Komodo dragon can then scent the smell of its own poison from several miles away and locate the escaped prey from many miles away, so basically, any animal that goes in a Komodo dragons jaws is their rightful food at a very high garrentee.

.Their skin is something they rely on to hunt for food by camoflaging and waiting for the prey if they need to, for the Komodo dragon can crawl on their legs at the highest speed at 18 kilometers per hour in short periods of time.

. They have rough skin to protect their bodys from harsh types of surfaces, and a gigantic, muscular, long tail as long as its body that is useful things like whipping prey to death. ,This is a map of the habitats for the Komodo dragon species. This is a map of the places where Komodo dragons currently live and where they are now extinct.

__//The Needs//__ .They can get a lot of energy and nutrients from their meat that they eat each day, for it is rich in protein, calcuim, and other needs.
 * . the Komodo dragon meets its needs in the following ways:**
 * A): Nutrients and energy:**

.When they catch their prey or, very unlikely in a group, A komodo dragon eats almost everything from the skin to the bones, because of their massive comsuption stomach. They can consume up to 88% of an animal, so almost everything is not wasted. .A Komodo dragon eating a new caught buffalo, starting with its flesh. . Komodo dragon drinking water at a tiny pond by using its forked tongue to lap it into its mouth. .A Komodo dragon enjoying the sunshine.

.They warm their scaly bodys from the sunshine, and gives them some nutrients as well as heat.

The Komdo dragon can extract up to 80% of their water needs from the meat of there prey, so water is easily found not very needed. .Rivers and ponds are also a source of water for the Komodo dragon if they really need the water.
 * B): Water:**

. The Komdo dragon gets its need of oxygen by breathing with its nose, or slots, and goes into its lungs and into the bloodstream.
 * C): Air:**

. The komodo dragon's respiratory system works simply like this: the oxygen is transported from the nose, then the lungs, followed by the trachea, and then into the bloodstream that is mixed into the blood and carbon dioxide. If the dragon is low on oxygen, it can produce an alternative oxygen supply if they extremely need it.

.The Komodo dragons have a high and stable population from 3,000 to 5,000 dragons in some islands in the world called Komodo, in Indonesia, Gila Matang, Rinca, and Flores in and zoos across the world.
 * D): Habitat:**

. The Komodo dragon inhabit hot forests, seasonally grasslands, savannas, and seasides.

. They are becoming extinct, but there are still thousands everywhere. Komodo dragons dig holes that are up to 3m deep in the ground using its strong claws as their shelter when it is too hot or too cold when it is night time, but can sleep up in trees or just on the ground.

. komodo dragons are adapted to very humid and burning hot temperatures at 35 degrees celsuis, because they only live on volcanic islands.

Komodo dragons must eat at least 70 percent of its body weight each day in order to survive.

__//**Environment:**//__

 * It responds to the environment by:**
 * .** It is capable of lifting its body above the ground with its limbs to avoid losing water inside its body to the heat of the ground. It is an adaption that Komdo dragons attain over years in its environment.

**//__Conclusion__//**
. Overall, The Komodo Dragon is a extremely tough and formidable animal that is proven to be basically impossible to kill or take down easily, unless its a human with no scent, camoflauge, the best sniper gun in the world, and some bait. Otherwise, don't go messing around with these species, because they aren't afraid of anything.

The **Komodo dragon**[3home] (//Varanus komodoensis//), also known as the **Komodo monitor**, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar.[4home] A member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae), it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 metres (10 ft) in rare cases and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms (150 lb).[4home] Their unusually large size has been attributed to island gigantism, since no other carnivorous animals fill the niche on the islands where they live.[5home][6home] However, recent research suggests the large size of Komodo dragons may be better understood as representative of a relict population of very large varanid lizards that once lived across Indonesia and Australia, most of which, along with other megafauna,[7home] died out after the Pleistocene. Fossils very similar to //V. komodoensis// have been found in Australia dating to greater than 3.8 million years ago, and its body size remained stable on Flores, one of the handful of Indonesian islands where it is currently found, over the last 900,000 years, "a time marked by major faunal turnovers, extinction of the island's megafauna, and the arrival of early hominids by 880 ka."[7home] As a result of their size, these lizards dominate the ecosystems in which they live.[8home] Komodo dragons hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals. It has been claimed that they have a venomous bite; there are two glands in the lower jaw which secrete several different toxic proteins, however, the biological significance of these is disputed. Their group behaviour in hunting is exceptional in the reptile world. The diet of big Komodo dragons mainly consists of deer, though they also eat considerable amounts of carrion.[4home] Komodo dragons also occasionally attack humans in the area of West Manggarai Regency where they live in Indonesia.[9home]

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