Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis)
By: Jaden Ji - April, 14, 2015 9th Period
Habitat
Komodo Dragons favor extreme heat such as a tropical dry forest, or a monsoon forest.
The temperature they like is ussualy 95 degrees fahrenheit and with 70% humidity.
Lastly to mantain a constant body tempeture they make burrows- this means they are endotherms. This is why they only live on the island of Komodo and some very other select places such as the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.
Movement
Body Covering
Diet-
Reproduction
Sexual and Asexual
Internal Fertilization.
Lay the Amniotic Egg.
15-30 eggs in a hole- incubates for about nine months.
Baby Komodo Dragons' will feed on meat when born.
Incubation Peirod.
Size at birth- 12 Inches.
Adaptations
Komodo Dragons have a special adaptation for hunting; they have poisonous saliva with over 50 strains of bacteria used to kill they prey within 24 hours of the bite. (This also could be considered as internal because its glands make up this poisonous saliva). Then they hunt down the deceased prey with their keen sense of smell needed to tract down the animal and then devour it using its sharp teeth and claws. Komodo Dragons use smell to sense prey or danger approaching since they have poor hearing and eyesight. They stick out their tongues to detect any animal or danger, then process's it through their specialized organs in their mouth. Lastly one mating adaptation is the amniotic egg, which protects, discards waste, and feeds the embryo without the mother having to do that.
Other
1 The Komodo Dragon is the largest living lizard species. (Alliteration)
2 Komodo Dragons can swallow whole prey the size of a goat.
3 Baby Komodo Dragons are vulnerable to other Komodo Dragons eating them.
4 Komodo Dragons can build up so much force they can knock down trees.
5 Komodo Dragons have 60 sharp, jagged teeth.
Assessment
1. What were you supposed to do for your project? - I was supposed to research and present information about the Komodo Dragon.
2. What was your favorite part and why? - My favorite part was typing the self-assessment because I did not need to do any research on it.
3. If you could do this over, what would you do differently, and why. - I would have picked an animal that's known better such as a shark or tiger because it was difficult to find information on the Komodo Dragon.
4. What grade do you think you deserve and why? - I believe I deserve a 70/70 on this projects because I followed all the instructions and met the requirements.
5. I felt very nervous about this project because I knew there wasn't much information on it, so it would take me a while to complete it.
Work Cited
Allen, K. Z. (n.d.). Reptiles. In Holt science & technology (Life Science ed.,
pp. 426-431). San Diego, CA: Hardcourt Education Company.
Bradford, A. (2014, October 7). Komodo dragon facts. Retrieved April 7, 2015,
from Livescience website: http://www.livescience.com/
Huey, R. B. (2015). Komodo dragon. In World book. Chicago, IL: World Book.
Komodo dragon. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2015, from National Geographic
website: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/
komodo-dragon/
Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from
Wildscreen Arkive website: http://www.arkive.org/komodo-dragon/
varanus-komodoensis/
Newton, D. E. (Ed.). (2009). Encyclopedia of endangered species (Vol. 2).
Retrieved from Student Resource Center Junior database. (Accession No.
EJ2644720240)
Poma, E. L. (2010, March 10). Ten fierce facts about komodo dragons. Retrieved
April 10, 2015, from World Wildlife Fund website:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/blogs/good-nature-travel/posts/
ten-fierce-facts-about-komodo-dragons