KOMODO DRAGON

Where in the world are they found?

They are in Indonesia

What is their habitat?

Komodo dragons are found in tropical savannas (grasslands) and forests.

What is their diet (prey)?

Komodo dragons eat birds, snakes, fish, rodents, goats and deer.

Who are their predators?

Komodo dragons have no animal predators that can harm them because
they can
Defend themselves against all other animals.

How does this animal adapt to its environment that allows them to
survive?

1. Komodo dragons can smell with their tongue. This adaptation helps
them locate their prey.

2. Its legs are large and powerful. This adaptation lets them run up to 20
miles per hour to catch prey.

3. Komodo dragons’ feet have sharp claws. This adaptation helps them
climb trees to can catch birds and snakes.

What do they look like?

They can grow to 10 feet long and weigh over 200 pounds.
They are usually dark grey-brown with patches of yellow,
White, green, and black.
Structural adaptation:

The Komodo dragon has very large powerful legs. These legs help this
speedy, dangerous predator to catch and tear apart its prey. These legs
have adapted to their fast moving prey, due to their feeding pattern being
based around deer. Deer are very quick, so to catch the stealthy mammals,
the Komodo Dragon needs strong, powerful legs.

Behavioral adaptation
The Komodo dragon has a unique behavior compared to most animals. It
is very territorial and aggressive towards other animals including its own
kind. The reason for this behavioral adaptation is due to lack of food, so
they need to be aggressive towards other animals to protect their territory
and food, and also to attack prey.

Physiological adaptation:

The Komodo dragon has a special physiological adaptation which is the

accumulation of bacteria found in its mouth. These bacteria can cause the
death of small animals and make larger animals extremely sick and in
some cases it can be fatal. This special adaptation allows for the Komodo
to bite its prey, let it die, then go catch/eat it later. Inside the Komodo's
mouth there is over 50 different types of bacteria. Once bitten by the
Komodo, the prey then has these bacterias in its blood stream which leads
to a slow death for the prey.

The Komodo Dragons habitat:

The Komodo Dragon lives in a harsh climate, which does not experience
water often throughout the year. The landscape is very rocky and dry,
although dry the habitat of the Komodo still has lets of trees and shrubs.
The Komodo's habitat contains other animals such as; Deer, wild boar,
wild buffalo, Snakes, other Lizards, Rodents etc. The average temperature
of Komodo Island (located east of Bali and South of Flores). The
Komodo Dragons world population lives on the small islands which
make up Indonesia (except for the ones in captivity).