A 3.8 Million Year Old Creature Finally Vulnerable to Extinction
Information – The Modern Dinosaur
The lizard that anyone who has gone to the zoo has been intimidated by has been put on the “Vulnerbale for Extinction”, which means that it is likely to be put on the endangered species list if it’s living conditions don’t get better. This lizard is the prehistoric beast, that reaches 10 ft. and 300 pounds when fully grown, the Komodo Dragon. The reason it is described as prehistoric, and is probably the basis of many chinese man eating dragon tales (Bagheera), is because fossils have been found showing the reptile’s bones from about 3.8 milliion years ago and the dragon is the last, and suprising one of the smallest, of giant lizards that used to live in Eastern Australia inluding the five meter (16.4 ft.) Megalania. The story of the first Komodo Dragons to come to America is even the ispiration behind the famous movie King Kong (Laelaps, 2011). Natural effects however are definitely not the cause of the endagerment, and human damage to the Dragon’s habitat is also hurting an important effort to understand why this animal has survived for so long, “Understanding the past history of a species is absolutely fundamental to determining its potential trajectory in the future, its responses to climate change, habitat change and extinction events," Hocknull said. "The Komodo dragon's fossil record shows that it is a resilient species — resilient to major climatic changes throughout its past, surviving extinction events which wiped out contemporary megafauna species.” (Choi, 2009). For how long this creature has survived, it is a significant goal to try and see what evolutionary features it has obtained that makes this possible. Especially since we actually don’t know that much about the reptile as you would expect we should, “Despite the fact that Komodo Dragons are very interesting and widely known, there is a lot of missing in our understanding of their natural history. Now a study of fossil evidence from Australia, Timor, Flores, Java, and India shows that Komodo Dragons likely evolved in Australia and dispersed widely into Indonesia. Some of the fossils that have been studied are newly described, including a species from Timor, and some are material known from a long time.” (Laden, 2009). This is getting more difficult however, mainly because now adays, the Komodo Dragon is confined to the island of Komodo and few countries that are right by. This is a small range for a species, and since they have such a small range of inluence, human and natural effects have a much larger effect on them (Figure 1). When seeing what this animal eats and how it reproduces, it is easy to see why its status is the way it is.
Figure 1. Data gathered from 1997. The Komodo Dragon can only be found in three countries in 2017. The decrease in area is accompanied with human settlement as well as an overall population decrease. Due to this, human and natural factors have much more of an effect.
Diet and Reproduction
The reason this reptile has been so feared for so long and has a good amount of old folklore about it is because it eats any meat that it can, from deer to even small water buffalo that are well larger than itself. The deer that are in the area of the lizard are being overhunted right now, which has led to the dragons dying because of not having a major food source. The Dragon is a scavenger, partly because its bite is venomous and initiates blood clotting which kills the prey after about a day or so, even if the creature escapes. “Most lizards are vegetarian but this giant lizard eats only meat. It can consume up to 80% of its body weight at one time. It has about 60 short sharp teeth to cut and tear flesh. It can run as fast as humans for short distances and are known to swim from island to island in the water. Komodo dragons are believed to be the source of Chinese legends and folklore involving large, scaly, man-eating monsters.” (Terrettas) When reproducing, males fight by standing on their back legs in order to impress the females. When July and September come around, the females lay an average of around 20 eggs per nesting and take about 34 weeks to hatch, and not all of survive (Borgan). This reproductive cycle only happens once a year which makes it difficult to increase population sizes. While it normally reproduces sexually, the Komodo Dragon is also unique in the fact that it can, depending on the environment, produce asexually; a proccess that is called parthenogenesis. While it is rare, it shows the remarkable qualitites that this creature possesses which have allowed it to survive for so long.
A Declining Population-
Since the first expedition by Steyn van Hensbroek, the lizards were looked upon as somewhat fairy tales, “Komodo suddenly seemed like a lost world. On that island, previously undetected, was a prehistoric-looking reptile that grew to enormous sizes. There were still strange creatures hiding in isolated pockets (a fact highlighted a few years before when explorers announced the discovery of a previously unknown giraffe relative in the Congo basin, the okapi.)” (National Geographic, 2011). Komodo Dragons are an animal that has a reputation that has guided its way to endangerment. Due to it’s prehistoric skin and the prize that is accompanied with cathing one, the lizard was hunted very heavily as a trophy animal. The number of Komodo Dragons has gone drastically since 1970, which is the last time that the lizards were seen on the island of Padar (Hudson 1994). While today the population looks secure at around 5000, realtively only 350 of them are fertile mothers (Figure 2). This is worrying for scientists because the amount of fertile mothers is so small compared to the total population. Another effect on the reptiles is the hunting of deer in their habitats. Komodo Dragons eat eat deer and with the deer being hunted, they are having to come closer and closer to human settlements looking for food (Figure 3). The hunting issues in the reptile’s habitat aren’t the only thing that is puting it in danger. The movement of human settlement is also a factor in the dragons coming closer since we are constantly encroaching on their habitats (Figure 1). The Komodo dragons do have multiple instances of attacking humans, and these instances are very harmful and can even result in death, but for the locals of the major islands the dragon inhabits they seem mostly uninterested.
Figure 2. The populations of Komodo Dragons on Komodo and the surrounding islands have been on a steady decrease since 2003.
Figure 3. Komodo Dragon’s food sources are constantly being hunted. This has led them closer and closer to human interactions in search for food.
The Benefit to Humans
The Komodo Dragon is such an inticing species because it has survived for so long in a place that goes through major natural disasters, but have still survived for so long. “"It's a perfect place to see how life adapts and evolves in response to major environmental impacts, like sea level change, climatic changes, catastrophes – tsunamis and volcanic eruptions – plus each island has received modern humans at one time or another," he explained. "What were their impacts and how did species cope? This will be our Rosetta Stone when understanding how species will respond to future climate change.” The study of how it has been able to evolve and avoid all major events that could have wiped them out could be very positive in the study of Evolution. The information that the Komodo dragon originated in Australia is even a new hypotheses released within the last 15 years as to how the Komodo Dragon has survived so long, “Now we can say Australia was also the birthplace of the three meter long Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), dispelling the long held scientific hypothesis that it evolved from a smaller ancenstor in isolation on the Indonesian Islands. Over the past three years, we’ve unearthed numerous fossils from Eastern Australia dated from 300,000 years ago to approximately 4 million years ago that we now know to be the Komodan Dragon.” (Laden, 2009). Some questions that are looking to be answered today include if humans were involved in the extinction of the lizard on Australia, “We have no evidence for this because the youngest Komodo fossils in Australia are around 300,000 years old, well before humans arrived. So we don't know whether the Komodo dragons in Australia died out before humans arrived or after. So the jury will remain out on this question until a better fossil record is found.” (Choi, 2009).
Conservation Efforts
“Early censuses counted very few juveniles, which raised an alarm about their future. Later it was discovered that the juveniles were in trees, where the census takers couldn’t see them. The near disappearance of Komodo dragons from Padar was due to poaching of dragon pery and fires.” (Hays). The conservation effort can be difficult to start up, as is the way with most conservation attempts, with the Komodo Dragon especially since we don’t know much about it yet, “As with any conservation effort, the hardest part is trying to identify the most effective way to begin. From a conservationist point of view, the population needs to continually be monitored so that any changes are immediately known.” (Wildlife Research). The Komodo Dragon has had a couple positive turns, however, starting with the Komodo National Park which was established in 1980 (Hance, 2015). This park is still doing well apparantly “ Indonesian-expert on the species, Achmad Ariefiandy, with the Komodo Dragon Survivor Program agrees that his subject is mostly a conservation success story. “Especially in Komodo National Park,” he noted.” (Hance, 2015). The increase in tourism to see the beautiful beasts has even help boost the ecosystem, “Rikardus noted that while work opportunities in Flores were still “very limited,” the rise in dragon tourism has certainly helped the island economy. Moreover, he said that tourists who come to visit the dragons also engage in other activities, such as visiting local villages, creating a further economic boon for Flores.
But for Rikardus, the conservation of the Komodo dragon is not just about his own livelihood, but something deeper. “Honestly, I’m grateful that the dragons still survive…otherwise I [would] just hear the story about that animal,” he wrote.” (Hance). There are also many professionally run zoos who have been helpful in the research and conservation efforts of the lizard, like the San Dieg Zoo, “San Diego Zoo Global has a research and conservation program to help these carnivorous giants. We are conducting research to understand the population biology of Komodo dragons in Komodo National Park. By studying Komodo dragon births, deaths, survival, and growth, we hope to learn many important things that will enable us to better conserve and manage these animals within the wild. In addition, we conduct many other types of research to understand how things such as prey availability and rainfall influence the biology of the different dragon populations across Komodo National Park.” (San Diego Zoo).
Conclusion
The Komodo Dragon is the closest animal still alive to the huge, beast dinosaurs that once roamed the earth. The way that they have been able to survive such harsh climates – “The islands are volcanic in origin, rugged and hilly, and covered with both forest and savanna grassland….. They like it hot, with daytime temperatures during the dry season that often reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) with 70-percent humidity.” (San Diego Zoo) – is an area that could lead us to find out not only how to save the Komodo Dragon species, but also other reptilian species, some of which are in much worse conditions than the Komodo Dragon. When analyzing how long the lizard has lived, it becomes clear that the rapid decline of this inticing species is not something that natural causes can be attributed to. If this were the case, the species would never have survived for as long of a time period as it did. While there have been some successful conservation efforts, the dragons that are living in Flores outside of the national park are in much more danger than those inside, “Komodo dragons that live outside of the National Park are at greatest risk, as habitat fragmentation and frequent burning of grasslands to hunt Timor deer are the greatest risks to their survival.” (San Diego Zoo). If an honest effort is made to save these prehistoric creatures, the benefits in multiple conservation fields and evolutional studies with help boost our understanding of the ecosystem in its whole.
Sources
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– Choi, Charles Q. “Origin of Komodo Dragon Revealed.” LiveScience, Purch, 6 Oct. 2009, www.livescience.com/9726-origin-komodo-dragon-revealed.html.
– Terrettas, Michael. “Komodo Dragon.” WWF, wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/komodo_dragon.cfm.
http://www.geocities.ws/evancardoso/komodo/index.html
– Hocknull, Scott A., et al. “Dragon's Paradise Lost: Palaeobiogeography, Evolution and Extinction of the Largest-Ever Terrestrial Lizards (Varanidae).” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007241.
– Borgan, Megan. “KOMODO DRAGON Varanus Komodoensis.” KOMODO DRAGON Varanus Komodoensi, bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/borgen_mega/lifehistory.htm.
– “Posts from January 2008 on Komodo Dragon.” Komodo Dragon, WordPress, 17 Jan. 2008, komododragon.wordpress.com/2008/01/.
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Hays, Jeffrey. “KOMODO DRAGONS AND HUMANS.” Facts and Details, factsanddetails.com/indonesia/Nature_Science_Animals/sub6_8d/entry-4092.html.
Laelaps. “The Demise of the Komodo Kings.” Phenomena, National Geographic | Phenomena, 8 Dec. 2011, phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2011/12/08/the-demise-of-the-komodo-kings/?_ga=2.18431929.1251540067.1510852366-1508665672.1510852366.
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