Amazing animal--Komodo dragon

                            

                 (source:http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8avVFYTspE8)

Why are they amazing:

The Komodo dragons are amazing because their sizes are very big.  Most of them are about 10 feet long.

They have surprisingly good hygiene. After they have done feeding, they will spend 10 to 15 minutes lip-licking and rubbing their heads in the leaves to clean their mouths.

The young Komodo dragon live on trees up to 4 years old. Otherwise, they will eat up by other animals.

Ryan Kok 

Ability:

 The Komodo dragon is carnivorous and saprophagous animal. Their saliva contains 48 kinds of bacteria in short run. After the Komodo dragon bite prey, the prey go, then track them, makes the prey slowly bleeding death.

Melbourne University in Australia, Dr. Robert venom expert Blaine (Bryan Fry) study found, the Komodo dragon can secrete a kind of snake venom, let the prey's blood can not be solidified, vasodilation, and muscle paralysis, loss of consciousness, shock, quickly bled to death.

(shared by yoyo)

(source:http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E7%A7%91%E6%91%A9%E5%A4%9A%E5%B7%A8%E8%9C%A5）

                                        A komodo dragon is eating a chicken.
                                                 (video shared by Pok Yin)
                      (source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijG2iO2uQz4)
                                                
Habitat: 

The habitat of the Komodo Dragon in the Komodo National located in Indonesia. They are found on several islands in the park.
We can find them in some parts of the bigger island od Flores, on the south of the Labuan Bajo. The habitat of Komodo Dragon is very dry with just little water and very hot. （dragon-komodo.com）
The space of the Komodo Dragon habitat is quite limited, it actually only appears wild on a few larger islands. （aquaticommunity.com）
While a few Komodo Dragon lives in zoos,the lizard's native habitat is the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Hores, Padar. （livescience.com）



Appearance:

  The Komodo dragon (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. 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).

Their unusually large size has been attributed to island gigantism, since no other carnivorous animals fill the niche on the islands where they live. 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, 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 onFlores, 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 [kiloannums]."

 As a result of their size, these lizards dominate the ecosystems in which they live. 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. The biological significance of these proteins is disputed, but the glands have been shown to secrete an anticoagulant. 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. Komodo dragons also occasionally attack humans in the area of West Manggarai Regency where they live in Indonesia.
                                     (Information shared by Matthew)                                                                   (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon)  

                                      A Komodo Dragon is eating a cow.
                                           (video shared by Matthew)
               (source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7CQInAXoqY)

                                     A Komodo Dragon is eating its prey.
                                            (photo shared by Matthew) 
                          (source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon)

                                 A Komodo Drangon is borning from its egg.
                             (video shared by Matthew, Ryan, Yoyo, Pok Yin)
                    (source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URXJhFaiFE4)