Wen | inspector of the popular science community
In the BBC documentary, there is a detailed account of the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, and in many places the Komodo dragon is also known as the poisonous dragon. From the appearance alone, the Komodo dragon does have some similarities with the legendary dragons in the Western world. As the largest venomous animal in the world, do you really know about the Komodo dragon?
The Komodo dragon belongs to the genus Of Monitor Lizards in the family Monitor Lizard family and is the largest surviving lizard in the world. They are very small, living only in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, while the number of commodore monitor lizards in existence is probably more than 6,000. Many people may not believe that before the last century, there was no Komodo dragon in the world. Due to the remoteness of their location, it was not until 1910 that the Komodo dragon was discovered by humans.
Komodo dragons are huge, with an adult male reaching a terrifying length of three meters and a weight of 135 kilograms. In contrast, it is larger than many crocodiles. Of course, if the comprehensive strength of the Komodo dragon compared with the crocodile, there is still some difference.
It is worth mentioning that the jawbone of komodo dragons is relatively loose, and their bite force is not very prominent compared to crocodiles. But that's nothing, the Komodo dragon itself is an authentic spell player.
In fact, many people will have a chilling feeling when they mention the Komodo dragon, and the main reason is from the unique hunting method of the Komodo dragon. The komodo dragon's hunting process can be painful and long, but this guy has unparalleled patience. After biting their prey, they do not rush to fight with their prey to the death, but slowly follow the prey until the prey dies of poison, and then begin to enjoy their own meal.
In 1981, a zoologist discovered Staphylococcus and Proteus in the mouth of the Komodo dragon, both of which are absolutely fatal to other animals. After biting their prey, Komodo dragons inject both bacteria into the wounds of their prey.
Then the bacteria rapidly multiply only takes about 2 to 3 days, after which the body of the prey will appear a series of symptoms, weak, and finally lie on the ground, becoming the Komodo dragon's plate of Chinese food.
At first, everyone thought that the main way komodo dragons kill their prey was through bacteria in their mouths, but as biologists continued to study, a new conclusion was slowly drawn. Biologists have found something unusual about the structure of the Komodo dragon's skull.
In the mouths of these guys are special poison sacs, which can secrete a large amount of venom. The effect of this venom is mainly directed at the blood, causing the blood of the animal's wound to fail to coagulate, resulting in continuous bleeding, which is simply similar to snake venom.
In addition, the venom in the Komodo dragon's venom sac also releases a ground-releasing enzyme, the natriuretic peptide hormone. When these hormones come into contact with the animal's body, they can cause paralysis of each other's muscles and loss of consciousness. Coupled with the constant flow of blood, prey often falls to the ground in extreme pain and discomfort, and eventually watches as komodo dragons eat themselves. I have to say that the Komodo dragon is really an incomprehensible existence in its own territory.