Varanoidea-Suppan

Komodo Dragon Some of the charaistics of the superfamily Varanoidea is that they all have scales and are carnivorus reptiles. They are some of the largest lizards with many different adaptations. In the superfamily the komodo dragon is part of the family moniter lizard. Other members of this superfamily are the earless moniter lizard, gila monster, central american tree boa, and the eastern diamond rattlesnake, to name a few.

 Komodo dragons move by walking on their four legs close to the ground. They do not live in groups and travel alone. They can sprint up to speeds of thirteen miles per hour for short periods of time. Komodo dragons are aggressive carnivores that eat meat, fresh or not. They eat more of the animal than most carnivores, normally eating the hoofs and even intestines and some organs. They can eat any animal including water buffalo and deer. Their strategies are: bite it and wait for their bacteria to kill it, or to pounce at the feet to make it fall over, then tear the animal to shreds. The komodo dragons teeth are so used that they grow four sets of teeth per year.

Komodo dragons live around thirty years in the wild and it takes six years for them to become an adult. Komodo dragons have many different adaptations to help survive their environment. One of the adaptations that they have is that they are very large. They are almost ten feet long and weight almost three hundred pounds. Also they dig burrows to sleep in at night to keep warmer and safer. They also have very bacterial saliva that will kill anything bitten in less than a week. Finally they have very sharp teeth and claws that can rip apart their pray. The Komodo dragon lays eggs and can have 30 eggs at one time and it takes 9 months for them to hatch. In komodo dragons there is not much of a difference between the male and the female. The only difference between male and female is that the males are a bit larger and bulkier than the female.

= Kingdom Animalia, = = Phylum Chordata, = = Class Reptilia, = = Order Sqamata, = = Superfamily Varanoidea, = = Family Varanidae, = = Genus Varanus, = = Species Komodoensis =