Komodo dragon

Physical features

• Komodo dragons are the world’s biggest lizards, growing up to 10 feet long and weighing in at 250 pounds. Female dragons are typically smaller than males.  Otherwise, their appearance is generally the same.

• In the wild, there are more males than females.

• Komodo dragons occur in multiple colors, ranging from dark brown/grey to light green/yellow.

• Komodo dragons have heavy, muscular bodies; stocky legs; long, sharp claws; and long, muscular tails.

• Their tails make up roughly half of their total body length and are used to help with swimming and as a fighting tool against other dragons.

• Their long, flat heads have flexible skulls with rounded snouts which contain about 60 sharp, serrated teeth.

• They have a long, forked tongue and a Jacobson’s organ to help track a scent by processing sensory input.

• Dragons are protected from injury by osteoderms (bony plates in the skin) which cover their entire bodies.

• Adult Komodo dragons are at the top of their food chain and do not have any predators.

Diet: Carnivore

• Wild – Adults feed on both carrion and a wide variety of large and small mammals, birds, fish, eggs, and smaller dragons. Juveniles feed on insects, geckos, eggs, birds, and small mammals.

• Zoo – commercially-prepared carnivore diet, hard-boiled eggs, and various sized rodents, rabbits, fish and birds; portions of larger prey items (such as goat) for enrichment

• The Komodo dragon at Zoo Atlanta is fed between once per week and once per month, depending on the time of year and the size of his previous meal.

Reproduction

• Breeding season occurs in July and August. Males may engage in combat to compete for females. They wrestle in an upright position and attempt to throw each other to the ground. 

• After detecting the female’s scent in her feces, an interested male will scratch her back and lick her body. If she does not retaliate, then mating begins. Males sometimes remain with the female for the entire breeding season to prevent others from mating with her.

• One month after mating, females lay up to 30 grapefruit-sized eggs, which they bury in a nest. They often use the same nest location repeatedly and may build decoy nests to discourage predators. The eggs incubate for about eight months.

• Hatchlings are around 12 inches long. Because they are highly vulnerable to predators, including adult dragons, they quickly climb into nearby trees for safety and remain there for their first three to five years.

• In the wild, female dragons don't breed every year.

• Female dragons possess both male and female sex chromosomes, allowing them to fertilize their eggs without the assistance of a male. This process is called parthenogenesis and only yields male hatchlings. It is unknown how frequently this happens in the wild.

Interpretive Information

• Komodo dragons are in the family of monitor lizards, which date back over 100 million years. However, recent fossil evidence indicates that dragons evolved only about 4 million years ago. They were once widespread throughout Australia but disappeared from that continent about 50,000 years ago.

• Komodo dragons prefer to remain in the area where they hatched. Despite being excellent swimmers, they seldom relocate to other islands. To be effective, conservation plans must consider this trait.

• Komodo dragons can walk up to seven miles per day and reach speeds of 13 miles per hour in short bursts. After some dragons were moved by researchers to a distant location, they found their way home in a few months.

• Although they can see very well, as far as 100 yards, Komodo dragons generally rely on their sense of smell to find food. When they flick their tongues out, it collects scent particles which is then analyzed by a vomeronasal organ (also known as Jacobson’s organ), located in the roof of their mouths.

• During their lifetimes, Komodo dragons will go through several sets of teeth. Each tooth is curved with a serrated edge, allowing them to cut through large prey.

• Komodo dragons can consume over 50% of their body weight in a single feeding.

• It is a common misconception that the Komodo dragon’s primary means of killing its prey is through the bacteria in its mouth. Komodo dragon saliva does contain up to 57 species of harmful bacteria, which may induce sepsis, but most of their prey succumbs to wounds sustained during an attack. If an animal escapes the initial attack, dragons use their keen sense of smell to track the injured prey for miles until the prey finally succumbs to injury or infection.

• Komodo dragons also have venom glands located on either side of their lower jaw. This venom has been proven to have anti-coagulant properties. While snakes typically have a single venom duct leading to their fangs, Komodo dragons have multiple ducts located between their teeth. Rather than injecting venom with a single bite, they use a bite-and-pull motion to ooze venom into wounds during a sustained attack.

• Studies on Komodo dragons in zoological settings suggest that they have more advanced cognitive skills and more complex behavioral repertoires than most other reptiles.

Updated May 2020