The largest and longest lizard in the world, the Komodo dragon, looks intimidating. This is probably why she is sometimes called the Komodo dragon. These lizards live in Indonesia and are protected by law.
Komodo monitor lizard - dimensions and appearance
The giant Indonesian monitor lizard is the largest in the world. The average weight of these lizards is about 90 kg, and their length is about 2.5 meters, i.e. in size they are much larger than humans. Females are usually smaller than males.
The officially registered weight and height record for this lizard was 160 kg and more than 3 meters in length. Outwardly, the monitor lizard resembles a lizard, a dinosaur, and a dragon that has never been seen by anyone. However, the legends about dragons may have a beginning precisely in the appearance and enormous size of this lizard.
The natives believe that the lizard is most like a crocodile, and they call the monitor lizard a land crocodile. Although the Komodo dragon swims well, it does not live in the water, it only hunts, and even then not always. In addition, this lizard is excellent at climbing trees, despite its weight, and develops a very decent speed, chasing prey.
The color of the monitor lizard is dark brown interspersed with yellowness, there are terrible, sharp teeth. The structure of the lizard's jaw is very similar to a shark's mouth, there are more than 60 teeth.
Habitat and taste preferences
The outward resemblance to dinosaurs in the Komodo monitor lizard is limited, since this lizard cannot be attributed to herbivores. Its food preferences are very diverse: the monitor lizard can feed on almost any living creature and even insects, and does not disdain carrion. Newborn lizards leave their mother immediately after hatching from eggs, for this very reason. A hungry monitor lizard can attack a person, since there are frequent cases of a lizard attacking even a prey larger than itself.
Monitor lizards hunt down prey in ambush and most often break its legs with a precise blow of a huge powerful tail. After being bitten by a Komodo dragon, the victim's chances of survival tend to zero, since he has a lot of dangerous bacteria in his oral cavity, and there are poisonous glands in the lower jaw. Inflammation after a bite occurs very quickly, and it is enough for the monitor lizard to wait time, being nearby - this is the secret of his success in defeating larger opponents. A buffalo bitten by a monitor lizard dies after 3 weeks.
People traveling to the homeland of the Komodo dragon should be extremely careful - the lizards have a very sharp sense of smell and even a slight scratch with the smell of blood can attract an aggressive individual. People accompanying tourist groups in Indonesia always carry weapons for this case. Monitor lizards hunt exclusively during the daytime.
