Unusual animals: Komodo monitor

Komodo Varan, in spite of its name, is unlikely to fit in a home chest of drawers. After all, this is the biggest lizard on earth - a Komod dragon or an Indonesian lizard, which looks more like its relatives - extinct dinosaurs.

Varan Komodo lives on some islands of Indonesia - in particular, Komodo (hence the name), Gili Motang, Flores and Rinke. Scientists believe that this is the most ancient amphibian reptile, which appeared simultaneously with dinosaurs and could survive all world cataclysms.

The average specimen of the Komodo monitor 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 are like a cross between a lizard, a crocodile and a dinosaur. Local residents call this reptile a land crocodile.

The color of varanas in color resembles clay - it is brownish-brown, with dirty yellow patches, which gives wonderful opportunities for camouflage.

Komodo monitor, although considered a lizard, is by no means an innocuous herbivore. He has excellent tools for attack - tail and teeth.

The tail is almost half the body length of the animal. Here the stores of fat that the monitor spends in hungry periods are postponed. And with the help of a tail, the animal attacks its victim during the hunt, knocking down and breaking her legs.

This giant lizard has more than 60 teeth, squeezed at the sides, sharp and serrated, and the structure of the jaw looks like a shark mouth. The language is the same as the snake's - long, bifurcated at the end. For the monitor, it is the 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 Komod lizard is fed with any living creatures and carrion: insects, rodents, birds, buffaloes, deer and even our own weaker brothers. Yes, among these giant lizards cannibalism is very common. Probably, that's why new-born lizards hurry to hide from their mother in the thick foliage of trees.

A hungry Komodan monitor is dangerous even for a person - 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 the bite, dangerous bacteria enter the victim's body from the oral cavity and poison from the mandibular venom glands of the monitor. Under the action of poison, the body of potential prey is gradually weakened, it loses a lot of blood and falls into a shock state. The lizard remains only to patiently pursue the victim and wait for the right moment.

At night, the Komodo monitor is very sound asleep. This allows scientists to carefully approach the animals and fix on them on the body the necessary sensors and thermometers for study. Thanks to the instruments, it was found that the temperature of the 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.

There are no natural enemies, except their own brethren, giant lizards, so they can live about 50 years. Nevertheless, the population of the lizards is very small: on the Indonesian islands there are only about 5000 of them. Nowhere else can these animals live, and in captivity most often do not multiply and perish. Therefore, the authorities of Indonesia have created a special reserve on the islands - Komodsky National Park, where the monitor lizards are under supervision and protection. As entertainment, visitors can participate in the feeding of 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 lizards.