Komodo Dragons found to be truly poisonous

[MA-Caver]

Used to be one thought that bacteria from rotting flesh in the lizard's mouth caused the deadly infections that killed the prey... now they found otherwise. Amazing at the new things you learn about various creatures.

Scientists discover deadly secret of Komodo's bite






AFP/File – The world's largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, has a snake-like venom in its bite which sends victims …



Tue May 19, 3:31 am ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090519/sc_afp/scienceanimalkomodoaustralia_20090519073836SYDNEY (AFP) – The world's largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, has a snake-like venom in its bite which sends victims into shock and stops their blood from clotting, according to Australian research.
It had been widely believed that deadly bacteria in the carnivorous lizard's mouth helped kill its prey.
But magnetic resonance imagery has for the first time uncovered venom glands containing a shock-inducing poison which increases blood flow and decreases blood pressure, scientists say.
Lead researcher Bryan Fry said three-dimensional computer imaging comparing the Komodo's bite with that of Australia's saltwater crocodile showed it used a "grip and rip" pulling manoeuvre to tear deep wounds, similar to a shark or sabre cat.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I just read this and was about to post it.... well it looks like you can't tell me it was already posted THIS time caver :mst:

A big scary lizard just got scarier

 

[MA-Caver]

I just read this and was about to post it.... well it looks like you can't tell me it was already posted THIS time caver :mst:

A big scary lizard just got scarier

yep... aptly named ... Dragon sheesh

 

[Xue Sheng]

Could be worse I suppose…they could fly and breath fire too.

 

[Omar B]

Took 'em this long to figure this out? people knew for years of the effects of a bite yet nobody took the step to autopsy the damn thing? But then, I totally get it, those things are friggin creepy. I hate lizards to begin with, so a jumbo lizard is even worse.

I never got the "dragon" thing though. They don't seem very dragon-like to me.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Again could be worse... about 45,000 to 15,000 years ago and they were about 5.5 to 10 meter size

 

[arnisador]

That's a lot of lizard!!!

 

[Senjojutsu]

Time to keep repeating, "There's No Such Thing as a Dragon."

Now I can get some sleep tonight.

 

[MA-Caver]

Time to keep repeating, "There's No Such Thing as a Dragon."

Now I can get some sleep tonight.

As someone's signature says... Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup. :lol:

We should be grateful I guess for just the land-locked versions of these creatures and that the MUCH larger versions have long since died out. Yet knowing man' insatiable need to dominate the food chain, the walking, chomping two legged over-sized heavily toothed variety would've seen extinction soon after the high-powered rifle had been invented. We nearly wiped out the wolves, cougars, bears, tigers, lions... so why not the carnivorous variety of the dinosaurs? That is I mean, had they survived their own ELE.

 

[naneek]

i think if they had survived on their own then we probably wouldnt have we would likely have been dinner for them..

 

[MA-Caver]

i think if they had survived on their own then we probably wouldnt have we would likely have been dinner for them..

Well no not exactly... nature abhors a vacuum and MAN is the ONLY species to date that has exterminated to extinction another species. Nature has always been about balance and will not allow one species to arbitrarily wipe out another... yet Mankind has long since in his arrogance thought of himself as being ABOVE nature and thus above the laws of nature.
Just occasionally Nature sends little reminders now and again that it can rule supreme.
In nature with carnivores or herbivores or anything else for that matter there is always just enough food to keep the local population to where it needs to be to maintain balance. Man, tends to upset that balance whenever he's around. Growing/raising too much food and then breeding profusely and growing even more food to feed that growth and so on in a vicious cycle... what happens? We need more space to grow more food and thus *ahem* lesser animals suffer loss of habitat as a result.

So if those larger versions of the Komodos had survived all those millions of years then most likely man would've hunted them to extinction (or near to it) anyway eventually.

 

[arnisador]

Komodo dragon attacks terrorize Indonesia villages

KOMODO ISLAND, Indonesia – Komodo dragons have shark-like teeth and poisonous venom that can kill a person within hours of a bite. Yet villagers who have lived for generations alongside the world's largest lizard were not afraid — until the dragons started to attack.

The stories spread quickly across this smattering of tropical islands in southeastern Indonesia, the only place the endangered reptiles can still be found in the wild: Two people were killed since 2007 — a young boy and a fisherman — and others were badly wounded after being charged unprovoked.

Komodo dragon attacks are still rare, experts note. But fear is swirling through the fishing villages, along with questions on how best to live with the dragons in the future.

 

[mook jong man]

I wonder if they are related to a big lizard we have in Australia called the Goanna , because they look a bit similar to me although the Komodo is much larger .
If I remember correctly I think Australia might have been joined up to all that bit of Indonesia , New Guinea etc many eons ago.
Maybe they might have come across on a land bridge and then the species split apart.

 

[MA-Caver]

I wonder if they are related to a big lizard we have in Australia called the Goanna , because they look a bit similar to me although the Komodo is much larger .
If I remember correctly I think Australia might have been joined up to all that bit of Indonesia , New Guinea etc many eons ago.
Maybe they might have come across on a land bridge and then the species split apart.

Probably right, there are maps of ancient land masses prior to the breaking apart to what is there today. The goannas are probably closely related, if not directly.

Komodo dragon attacks are still rare, experts note. But fear is swirling through the fishing villages, along with questions on how best to live with the dragons in the future.

Probably kill them off just like what humans do to every other animal that becomes a threat. There should be enough in zoos now to prevent total extinction... just out in the wild where man and his arrogance has to rule supreme.

 

[Chris Parker]

I wonder if they are related to a big lizard we have in Australia called the Goanna , because they look a bit similar to me although the Komodo is much larger.

Yeah, they're both from the same family of monitor lizards. They range from the pygmy monitor (about 6-8 inches long, if memory serves) to the giant Komodo... at least these days. Go back a while (as was said) and there were goannas in Australia up to 7 or 8 metres long. Just can't remember the name for them. Time for google, I think.

 

[Chris Parker]

Found it, Megalania. Big boys.

 

[tellner]

And now they're terrorizing Indonesian towns.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Just another reason for me NOT to go to Indonesia

 

[Omar B]

Just another reason for me NOT to go to Indonesia

What was the previous reason? :mst:

 

[tellner]

Being Chinese in Indonesia or Malaysia has issues all by itself.