Komodo Dragon

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest living lizard, up to about 3 meters long, found only on a handful of Indonesian islands including Komodo and Rinca. It is listed as Endangered by the IUCN, a change from Vulnerable in 2021 that reflects the threat of rising seas to its habitat.

🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Komodo Dragon in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Reptilia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.

Komodo dragons were long thought to kill with septic bacteria in their mouths, but research in 2009 showed that they have venom glands in the lower jaw that deliver proteins which lower blood pressure and prevent clotting. The teeth are serrated and, in the tooth tips, coated with iron-rich enamel.

In 2006 a captive female produced fertile offspring without a mate, by parthenogenesis. In Komodo dragons females are ZW and males ZZ, and the resulting offspring are all male.

Adult dragons ambush deer and pigs and also scavenge. A population of only a few thousand depends on prey abundance. Warming and sea-level rise could shrink suitable habitat on small islands.

• Sea-level rise — threat to island habitat
• Climate change — impacts on island species