The biggest lizard. The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard. Distinctive features of the Komodo dragon

The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard in the world, its average size is 2.5 m and its weight is 90 kg. But there are record holders whose length reaches 3 m, and their weight reaches 150 kg. A huge lizard lives on the Indonesian islands, it was first discovered only in 1912.

The Komodo dragon belongs to the class of reptiles, a subclass of oviparous, to the squamous order.

To date, the largest lizard from this family is recognized male 3.13 meters long, weighing 166 kg. It is curious, but it is the males that reach huge sizes, the females, as a rule, do not grow above 1.8 m.

The sight of a huge lizard introduces fear - a massive body covered with stone-colored skin resembling chain mail, large curved teeth, a forked tongue.

Unusual hunting

Komodo lizards are predators, so they only eat meat. The diet of young individuals consists mainly of insects, birds, snakes. Adult monitor lizards prey on more satisfying victims, the inhabitants of the forests become their prey - wild boars, buffalo, deer, smaller mammals. There is practically nothing left of the victims - the giant does not disdain hooves, skins and other parts of carcasses that other predators do not eat.

The unusualness of the hunt lies in the fact that these lizards are able to recognize not only the approach of the victim at a distance of several kilometers, but also to feel its taste. Involved in this process forked tongue and bodies oral cavity who can taste the air.

Large Komodo lizards cannot be called slow, they can run at a speed of 18 km per hour and have very flexible jaw and throat muscles. This structure allows you to quickly swallow large pieces of meat. The stomach is easily and strongly stretched, holding even whole carcasses large animals such as pigs.

However, predatory giants rarely swallow whole carcasses. More often they prefer to bring the victim to immobilization, then tear it apart and eat it. In alarming situations, the monitor lizard instantly releases the stomach to lighten the weight and run away from the enemy.

Poison and contagiousness

Komodo dragon - poisonous creature, the poison is secreted from the glands located in mandible. The poisonous secret disrupts blood clotting, lowers blood pressure and body temperature, causes paralysis of the victim and severe pain.

Even if the unfortunate animal receives a small dose of poison and breaks out of the mouth of a predator, he is not destined to escape and survive. Lizard saliva contains over 50,000 species of bacteria. The bite leads to blood poisoning and inevitable death in the coming days. The predator constantly monitors the surrounding air and hurries to where the victim is being killed by the disease.

On people poisonous dragon attacks rarely, but there were cases when even children became victims. However, Komodo monitor lizards are under protection, it is forbidden to destroy them.

Reproduction Facts

Komodo dragons are capable of asexual reproduction, but only males can appear in this way. Females are born after natural fertilization.

To protect offspring from other predators, mothers make false nests and hatch there, distracting hunters. At this time, the real eggs are in a different place.

Young lizards are cunning- Sensing danger, they repeatedly collapse in their own feces to emit an unpleasant odor. Lizards spend the first four years of their lives on trees, hiding from predators, including monitor lizards of their family and their own parents, who no longer recognize their offspring.

Growing up to one and a half meters, young dragons descend and begin to hunt themselves. Adulthood lasts about nine years, and the lifespan of a dragon is an average of thirty years. But they do not have such survivability as.

Lizards have lived on Earth for millions of years. They managed to successfully adapt to the changing conditions of life on our planet, and today this species of animals can be found in different parts Sveta.

The largest lizard lives on Komodo Island in Indonesia. This is a Komodo monitor lizard, which has a length of 3 meters with a body weight of up to 160 kg. This type of lizard is of particular interest to scientists. The locals call it the dragon of Komodo Island. He leads the ranking of the largest lizards.

1. Komodo Dragon or Komodo Island Dragon

Scientists discovered this species of lizard in 1912. It is believed that these giants used to live in Australia. Seismic activity and changing terrain prompted them to move to the islands of Indonesia. Adult monitor lizards grow up to 3 meters long and can weigh up to 160 kg.

Medium Komodo monitor lizards are up to 2 meters long. The skin of these animals is dark and mottled. They have powerful paws, tail, jaws and sharp teeth.

These lizards are excellent swimmers, climb trees and run at a speed of 20 km per hour. Komodo dragons scary predators having no enemies in nature. They prey on rodents, snakes, baby crocodile, deer, wild boar, goats, buffalo and even their relatives. These lizards do not disdain carrion and can tear up and eat the bodies of buried animals and people. Therefore, on the island of Komodo, heavy plates are installed on the graves.

There have been cases of these giants attacking people, although this rarely happens. Danger awaits the children and livestock, which often becomes the monitor lizard's dinner. The saliva of these "dragons" is toxic, so the victim weakens after a bite and slowly dies.

Komodo dragons arrange bloody fights for the female in mating season. She lays up to 20 eggs. Cubs are born small and can become prey for birds and snakes. The mother guards only the masonry. Then it all depends on the ability to hide, so the kids hide in the foliage.

The monitor lizard of Komodo Island is listed in the Red Book. Hunting for this lizard is prohibited. But locals offset the inconvenience of coexistence with this giant income from the tourism business. Despite the danger, tourists actively visit Komodo all year round.

This huge lizard lives in Australia. The length of her body is up to 2.5 meters, with a weight of 25 kg.

Lives in inaccessible areas, feeds on snakes, birds and small mammals (wallabies, wombats). When trying to hunt him, he attacks a person. A tail blow can knock a man to the ground or cripple a dog.

3. Striped monitor lizard

The body length of this giant is up to 250 cm. Weight is up to 20 kg. Only the Komodo dragon is heavier than it. Distributed in Sumatra, Java, in mainland India.

This is a semi-aquatic lizard. She is an excellent swimmer and diver. Digs burrows up to 10 meters deep and can climb trees. Eats fish, baby crocodile, turtle eggs, otters and even mammals (monkeys).

Lives in New Guinea. Body length up to 2 meters, weight up to 10 kg. This is a tree lizard. Uses its tail to grab onto tree branches, often rearing up on its hind legs to get its bearings.

It hunts birds, snakes, kangaroos, does not disdain carrion. It swallows small prey whole, and tears out pieces of meat from large prey. There were cases of attacks on humans and livestock.

Reaches body size up to 175 cm. Weight up to 7.2 kg. Digs burrows under tree roots or rocks. It can settle in a hollow, it climbs trees very well.

Runs and jumps fast. Lives in India and Pakistan. In northern Pakistan, it flows into hibernation. It feeds on rodents, snakes, eggs of birds, snakes and crocodiles.

Body length up to 125 cm. Weight up to 13 kg. Lives only on Galapagos Islands.

Digging holes for himself. It feeds on vegetation, picks up fallen fruits, flowers and sprouts of cacti (opuntia).

Inhabits the Galapagos Islands. Body length up to 140 cm. Weight up to 12 kg. It has a long tail up to half of the body. Most of his time is at sea, he can swim and dive very well.

On land, it can be found on rocky shore, in swamps or mango thickets. It has an interesting pinkish skin color. It feeds on algae. Eggs are laid on the shore in warm sand.

The body length of the sailing lizard reaches 1 meter, it has a leather comb on its back. This lizard is omnivorous.

She eats fruits, flowers, leaves, insects and small mammals. The animal is not aggressive, so it often becomes a prey for local hunters. The eggs of the female are laid in the sand on the shore.

The largest individuals of chameleons grow up to 60 cm in length. These lizards have long legs with fingers adapted for grasping branches. Helps in this chameleon and twisted tail. On the round head of these animals there are small horns.

The chameleon has unusual eyes that can look in different directions and increase the view of the area when hunting. This lizard can change skin color. Color changes depend on air temperature, fear, anger, hunger and other emotions.

Animals are common in Africa, India, Sri Lanka, America and Southern Europe. Chameleons have a long tongue with an insect sucker. They also will not refuse to eat fruits and young greens.

There are up to 5,000 species of lizards on Earth, and all of them are admired. After all, one cannot but be surprised by the ability of these animals to autotomy, that is, in case of danger, to discard and grow a tail again. These creatures can change skin color to suit environment or disguised as a dried leaf. Basilisk can run on water, and Moloch can soak up water in the desert with all the skin of his body.

The long forked tongue helps the lizards hunt. Their adaptability, strength and ability to survive can be the envy of many animals. The largest lizard, the Kamoda monitor lizard, is an exceptional species that may still bring many surprises to scientists.

Komodo monitor lizard (giant Indonesian monitor lizard, Komodo monitor lizard) ( Varanus komodoensis) is the largest in the world. The predatory reptile belongs to the order of scaly, the superfamily of monitor lizards, the family of monitor lizards, the genus of monitor lizards. The Komodo monitor lizard, which is also called the "dragon of Komodo Island", got its name from one of its habitats.

Seasoned and strong monitor lizards easily cope with more impressive prey: wild boars, buffaloes, and goats. Often, livestock gets into the teeth of adult Komodo monitor lizards, and those who came to water bodies to drink or accidentally met this dangerous lizard on the way.

Monitor lizard from Komodo Island is also dangerous for humans, there are known cases of these predators attacking people. If there is not enough food, large monitor lizards can attack smaller relatives. When eating food, the Komodo dragon can swallow very large pieces due to the movable connection of the bones of the lower jaw and a capacious stomach, which tends to stretch.

Komodo dragon hunting

Principle of hunting komodo dragon cruel enough. Sometimes a large predatory lizard attacks its prey from an ambush, suddenly knocking down its “future dinner” with a powerful and sharp blow of the tail. At the same time, the impact force is so great that often potential prey gets leg fractures. 12 out of 17 deer die on the spot in a fight with a lizard. However, sometimes the victim manages to escape, though she can get severe injuries in the form of torn tendons or lacerations in the abdomen or neck area, which leads to inevitable death. The poison of the monitor lizard and the bacteria that are contained in the saliva of the reptile weaken the victim. In large prey, such as a buffalo, death can occur only 3 weeks after a fight with a monitor lizard. Some sources indicate that the giant Komodo monitor lizard will catch up with its prey by the smell and traces of blood to the point of complete exhaustion. Some animals manage to escape and heal their wounds, other animals fall into the clutches of predators, and others die from wounds inflicted by monitor lizard. An excellent sense of smell allows the Komodo dragon to smell food and the smell of blood at a distance of up to 9.5 km. And when the victim still dies, monitor lizards run to the smell of carrion to eat the dead animal.

Komodo dragon venom

Previously, it was believed that the saliva of the Komodo monitor lizard contains only a harmful "cocktail" of pathogenic bacteria, to which the predatory lizard is immune. However, relatively recently, scientists have determined that the monitor lizard has a pair of poisonous glands located on the lower jaw and producing special toxic proteins that cause a bitten victim to reduce blood clotting, hypothermia, paralysis, lower blood pressure and loss of consciousness. The glands have a primitive structure: they do not have channels in the teeth, as, for example, in snakes, but open at the base of the teeth with ducts. Thus, the bite of a Komodo monitor lizard is poisonous.

Man has studied, it would seem, all the living beings on the planet. But to this day, scientists find and describe new previously unexplored species of animals and plants. For example, the Reptile class was replenished with a hundred new species in 2010. Among them there are big lizards, for example, Varanus bitatawa, reaching 2 meters in length, and rather inconspicuous - Cyrtopodion golubevi with a body length of about 43-59 mm and a tail of 53-79 mm.

Reptiles are divided into 4 orders

reptile classification

According to the traditional scientific classification, the class Reptiles (Reptiles) includes four modern units:

• Testudines - Turtles;
• Crocodilia - Crocodiles;
• Rhynchocephalia - Beakheads;
• Squamata - Scaly.

The last detachment (Scaly) is divided into suborders. Among them:

• Serpentes - Serpents;
• Amphisbaenia - Amphisbaeny (two-way);
• Lacertilia - Lizards;
• Chamaeleonia - Chameleons.

More than 9 thousand species of animals belonging to the class of Reptiles are known in the world. More than 6 thousand of them are species classified in the suborder Lizards, which include:

• infraorder monitor lizards (Varanoidea);
• infraorder spindle-shaped (Anguimorpha);
• infraorder geckos (Gekkota);
• infraorder iguanaformes (Iguania);
• skink-like infraorder (Scincomorpha).

Features and appearance

Some species of lizards have significant differences in appearance, habitat and habits, while others are difficult to distinguish from each other or even from representatives of other classes. Spindle-shaped lizards can at first glance be attributed to snakes, and representatives of the worm-like family are similar in appearance to earthworms. However, most still have limbs, and their appearance leaves no doubt about their belonging to the suborder.

interesting hallmark many species of lizards is discarding part of the tail.

A similar phenomenon is called autotomy - the ability to independently discard any organ or limb. This usually happens in a very adverse conditions, in the event of a threat to life or other danger.

By contraction of special muscles in certain areas, the tail vertebrae break and the damaged blood vessels are clamped, thereby preventing bleeding. After a certain time, the tissues regenerate, and the discarded limb is restored. Most often, the regrown tail becomes slightly shorter than the discarded one.

Big and small

The smallest lizards in the world are the Kharaguan sphero (Sphaerodactylus ariasae) and the Virginian round-toed gecko (Sphaerodactylus parthenopion), living on Virgin Islands and in Dominican Republic. These animals weigh about 0.2 g, and their body length is 16-19 mm.

The largest member of the suborder in the world is the Komodo dragon. This large lizard is also called the giant Indonesian monitor lizard, Komodo dragon, komodo dragon, and the natives of the Indonesian islands call it "ora" or "buaya darat", which means "land crocodile". Adult representatives of this species can reach three meters in length and weigh up to 90 kg.

These giant reptiles were first discovered in 1912 on the Indonesian island of Komodo. And to the present, their range occupies an impressive area there, although scientists have established that the ancestors of this species lived in Australia.

The Komodo dragon is an excellent swimmer, runner and even rock climber. Monitor lizards, getting food or looking for a secluded place to rest and sleep, can also climb trees. These huge lizards are diurnal, waking up at dawn and hunting with the first rays of the sun. In the daytime, they prefer to hide from the scorching sun in the shade.

Monitor lizards eat a variety of things. Depending on its age, the Komodo dragon can prey on insects, fish, rodents, turtles, crabs and many other living creatures. Having reached a weight of 20 kilograms, adults are able to hunt larger animals (boars, deer), and subsequently buffaloes, cattle, horses. They can eat carrion.

The Komodo monitor lizard hunts not only with huge sharp teeth and powerful jaws, with which they easily tear prey. Not so long ago, it was found that the bite of Komodo monitor lizards is poisonous. Previously, the danger of bites from these lizards was associated with pathogenic microflora in the mouth that enters the wound of the victim. The spreading infection gradually kills the prey, and monitor lizards patiently pursue the animal and wait for large prey to be so exhausted by the disease that they cannot resist.

Currently, scientists have established that monitor lizards have a poison that gradually kills the victim. And these large reptiles are rightfully considered not only the largest lizards on Earth, but also the largest poisonous creatures.

domestic lizards

Lizards are quite popular pets. A variety of species allows you to choose them for home content for every taste. Based on the desires and capabilities of the owner, they can be huge or small, herbivores or eat live food, capable of human contact or live in their own closed terrarium.

To keep a reptile requires certain knowledge

Names of the largest lizards for home keeping:

• Striped lizard. One of major representatives, in nature can reach a body length of 250-300 cm and weigh more than 20 kg.
• The Nile monitor can weigh between 5 and 10 kilograms and have a body length of 150-170 cm. Females are smaller and, on average, weigh about 3 kg with a length of 135 cm.
• common iguana. A fairly common type for keeping a house. They can grow up to 150 cm.
• Tegu - lizards measuring 1-1.4 m.
• Steppe Cape monitor lizard. Adults of this species can be from 60 cm to 1.5 meters long. The females are slightly smaller than the males.

But more popular for home maintenance are representatives who are not so dangerous and do not grow to giant size, For example:

• has dimensions from 50 to 60 cm;
• spotted eublefar with a body length of 25 to 30 cm;
• felsum grows up to 30 cm;
• currents - a lizard with sizes up to 35 cm;
• blue-tongued skink can reach 60 cm in length, but in most cases the body length does not exceed 45 cm.

Pets must be provided with suitable food, it is also necessary to create a light and thermal regime in the terrarium. The terrarium itself must be designed according to the characteristics of each species.

The decision to choose one of the representatives of the reptile class as a pet must be weighed. worth appreciating and financial opportunities, since keeping a lizard, especially a large one, can be quite costly. To care for such a pet, time is needed to provide the animal comfortable conditions existence. Representatives of many species are quite friendly and, with proper care, can be tamed by humans to some extent.

In this video you will learn more about lizards: