A Komodo lizard, contrary to its name, is unlikely to fit in a home chest of drawers. After all, this is the largest lizard on earth - a Komodo dragon or an Indonesian monitor lizard, which looks more like its relatives - extinct dinosaurs.
Komodo Varan lives on some islands of Indonesia - in particular, Komodo (hence the name), Gili Motang, Flores and Rinke. Scientists believe that this is the oldest amphibian reptile, which appeared simultaneously with dinosaurs and was able to survive all the world's cataclysms.
The average Komodo lizard weighs about 90 kg and grows to a length of 2.5 meters. And the parameters of the largest officially recorded specimen were 160 kg of weight with a body longer than 3 meters.
Komodo lizards look like a cross between a lizard, a crocodile and a dinosaur. Locals call this reptile a land crocodile.
The color of the lizards in color resembles clay - it is brown-brown, with dirty yellow spots, which gives wonderful opportunities for camouflage.
The Komodo lizard, although considered a lizard, is by no means a harmless herbivore. He has excellent tools for attack - tail and teeth.
The tail is almost half the body length of the animal. It stores reserves of fat that the monitor loses during the hunger periods. And with the help of the tail, the animal attacks its prey during the hunt, knocking down and breaking its legs.
This giant lizard has more than 60 teeth, squeezed on the sides, sharp and serrated, and the structure of the jaw looks like a shark's mouth. The tongue is the same as a snake - long, forked at the end. For a monitor lizard, it is an organ of smell, and the scent of these animals is impressive: they can distinguish the smell of blood at a distance of 5 km.
The Komodo lizard feeds on any living creatures and carrion: insects, rodents, birds, buffalo, deer, and even its own weaker counterparts. Yes, cannibalism is very common among these giant lizards . This is probably why newborn monitors are in a hurry to hide from their mother in the dense foliage of trees.
A hungry chest of drawers is dangerous even for humans - there have been cases of attacks on tourists. The lizard is not afraid to attack the victim, equal to him in the weight category and most often wins. During a bite, dangerous bacteria from the oral cavity and poison from the mandibular poisonous glands of the monitor get into the victim's body. Under the influence of the poison, the body of potential prey gradually weakens, it loses a lot of blood and falls into a state of shock. The lizard can only patiently pursue the victim and wait for the right moment.
At night, the Komodo lizard sleeps very soundly. This allows scientists to carefully approach the animals and fix the necessary sensors and thermometers on their bodies for study. Thanks to the instruments, it was found that the temperature of the monitor lizards has a fantastic difference: 20 degrees between heating the body during the day and cooling at night.
Komodo lizards, like other reptiles, are excellent swimmers.
Gigantic lizards do not have natural enemies, except for their own counterparts, so they can live about 50 years. However, the population of the monitor lizards is very small: only about 5,000 individuals remain on the Indonesian islands. Nowhere else can these animals live, and in captivity they most often do not breed and die. Therefore, the Indonesian authorities created a special reserve on the islands - the Komodo National Park, where the lizards are under the supervision and protection. As an entertainment, visitors can take part in feeding giant lizards. Of course, this happens only under the supervision of a trained huntsman, armed with a long pole for protection, so that a group of tourists does not become a dinner for hungry monitor lizards.