I. Introduction:
A. Intro Paragraph: A lizard is a reptile, scaly, and usually six inches to three or four feet long. There is one special lizard that lives on only four islands in Indonesia. This is the Komodo dragon. Komodo dragons are the biggest lizards in the world, up to 10 feet long. They are lizards despite the name dragon. Komodos eat a number of different things on these islands in a lot of different habitats.
B. Thesis Statement: These lizards are an amazing example of God’s power and work in creation from their bite to bodies.
II. Body
A.Characteristics
1. How big are Komodo dragons? The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard in the world, weighing about 300 pounds and 10 feet long ("20 (More) Strange and Exotic Endangered Species"). At a young age, they weigh less than 3.5 ounces and are only sixteen inches long ("Fun Facts about Komodo Dragons").
2. What colors are Komodo dragons? Adult Komodos are usually all gray or clay-colored, but from the time they are born until 4 years of age, they have a brighter, speckled skin ("Komodo Dragon, Varanus komodoensis"). This site also said that the the dragons of Flores island keep a lot of that brighter coloration. They have red flanks with yellow heads. Also, the flanks of females have more red coloration than males. While they are young, Komodos have black and yellow stripes ("Komodo Dragon, Varanus komodoensis").
3. How good are the Komodos senses?The Komodo dragon cannot hear very well or run fast for a long time, so they rely on good eyesight and stealth to hunt ("20 (More) Strange and Exotic Endangered Species"). The Komodo dragon’s tongue can smell and taste ("Fun Facts about Komodo Dragons"). Dragons have an amazing sense of smell and use it to hone in on the corpse...
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...selves much higher off the ground (Lutz and Lutz 173). Also, while they walk, only the tip of the dragons tail touches the ground leaving a pattern that copies the style of its walk (Lutz and Lutz 173). Dragons can swim from one island to another (“Komodo Dragon Facts”). Komodos are equipped with an “egg tooth” to help get themselves out of their shells ("Komodo Dragon Facts").
III. Conclusion: The Komodo dragon is a giant lizard that lives on only four islands in the world! It has remarkable senses of eyesight and smell, which is with its tongue. The Komodo is a predator that kills with a special deadly saliva. All of these things only point more and more to the glory of God. He created an animal with astonishing abilities and characteristics that help it live in the places it does. God reveals his awesome power to us through creation and we must take notice of it.
The "Inland Bearded Dragon" rightfully earns its name by the very pronounced beard sometimes shown in defensive displays as well as during mating behavior. By puffing out their throat area, both males and females can display a beard, although the male's is usually a much darker almost pitch black beard. Adult bearded dragons average 15 to 24 inches in length, while hatchlings are between 3 to 4 inches at birth. Young dragons grow fast and are sexually mature by one year of age. Juvenile beardeds usually start showing their coloration by two months of age.
Dragons only live in extremely windy areas because of the lift they need for their bodies.
Ko-kee, ko-kee... are the mating calls of invasive Coqui frogs who have invaded a majority of the Big Island. These Coqui frogs, also known as Eleutherodactylus coqui are native in Puerto Rico and these small frogs are considered their national animal (Singer et al). Coqui frogs were accidentally introduced to Hawaii during a shipment of plants from Puerto Rico to Hawaii in the late 1980's. Coqui frogs are about 2 inches in length and are usually light brown or gray with a stripe down their back. Over the past two decades E. coqui have spread to the four main Hawaiian Islands and other places such as the Caribbean, Florida, and Louisiana (Singer et al). As of today, the Coquis intensive mating calls can be heard throughout every part of the Big Island during the night. While the Puerto Ricans love the sound of the Coquis, many locals in Hawaii dislike them due to the environmental and economic damages they are creating. Coqui frogs are detriment to Hawaii because they are a serious threat to the native insect population, compete for food with Hawaii's native bird population, and cost residents and businesses millions of dollars each year (McAvoy).
From this biome I have chosen the draco lizard because it is my favorite and i know so much about it. First off, I need to give a little help on understanding what exactly what it is. And I am the guy that can help out on this little project. So, here we go!
Dragons are very popular mythical beings because they are capable of flying, swimming, and walking on land. This makes a Dragons attack much easier because he can exploit the weaknesses of his victims by using earth’s natural elements earth, air, fire, and water. Dragons have sharp teeth and a tongue shaped like an arrow. These creatures can breathe fire, but some cultures believed they spit ice or another venomous substance. All a dragons power is in its long, scaly tail.
(blackdrago.com) “Dragon images have been found on the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, on scrolls from China, in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Ethiopian sketches, on the prows of Viking ships, in bas relief on Aztec temples, on cliffs above the Mississippi River and even on bones carved by Inuits in climates where no reptile could live.” (McNeil) Stories of dragons can be found all through history. Over five thousand years ago, ancient Sumerian cultures had dragon legends in their religions. Modernly, few still believe dragons exist, they can still be found in our movies, books and video
According to their website, the Komodo dragon has a population of about 3,000 to 6,000 on the islands of Komodo, Gila Motang, Rinca, and Flores (National Geographic). However, with the rise of poaching, human encroachment, and natural disasters, it has driven the species to endangered status.
The Axolotl, a crucially endangered neotenous species of mole salamander, has adapted to fit its environment so it can easily catch food and evade predators. The Axolotl’s habitat is the lake system of Xochimilco that is near Mexico City, Mexico. This shallow, fresh water lake complex has a temperature range of 6- 20°C and a pH of 7- 12. The complex also has the Axolotl’s primary food sources of mollusk, insect larvae, and other crustaceans. However, with the introduction of foreign species such as the Asian Carp and the African Tilapia, the Axolotl now has predators that may eat and threaten it, and it has competition for the animals it usually eats. Fortunately, the Axolotl has developed adaptations that aid it in catching food and evading predators. To help it catch food the Axolotl’s teeth are shaped like cones, so that its “vacuum” action of sucking in as much water in order to also eat food is aided by the shape of the teeth, which allow it to grip, rather than chew. To aid them in avoiding predators they are able to metamorphose so that they use their lungs more than their gill, which allows them to leave very toxic waters and the predators within. Another adaption that helps them deflect any predator is that they are able to regenerate body parts that have been lost, allowing them to stay as strong as possible. Axolotl’s have adaptations that aid their survival from predators in the lake complex Xochimilco that they reside in.
Without the horned lizard, the Saguaro desert would fall apart quickly. If you have ever heard someone say, “Hey look! There’s a horned toad!” they are really referring to a horned lizard. They have spines (spikes) to protect themselves from predators. These lizards move slowly, and are patient for their food. They eat mostly insects such as ants, and in the Saguaro desert, they eat kangaroo rats. There are 14 different species of horned lizards. They are different in some ways, but all of their colors resemble their surroundings, and it helps them to stay safer. Horned lizards can survive in many climates and temperatures. If it gets too hot, they burrow with their head sticking out at the surface of the ground. That way, it cools them down without having to go far. Conveniently they can stay in their home for the winter. They survive by burrowing in the ground and hibernating. Horned lizards mostly lay eggs, but for some species, the young are born alive. After the eggs are laid, the parents ...
The Grey Tree Frog is about two inches in length. Its head is short and broad and its body corpulent (Dickerson, 1969). With a white belly, white rectangular spot under both of its eyes, yellowish orange markings on the inside of the hide legs and black blotches including one that looks like an irregular shaped star on its back this frog is very colorful and exotic looking. Depending on the environment and the stress level of the frog, its colors may change (Centralpets.com, 2004). H. versicolor may actually be any shade of brown, grey, green, or even light yellow or white. The temperature and the intensity of light also affect the frog’s colors. When there is bright light and a higher temperature perhaps it will be a yellowish white with almost no markings. When it’s dark and moist it may be a dark stone gray with dark markings (Dickerson, 1969).
The Texas horned lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum, is a species in the lizard family, Phrynosomatidae, which has ten genera and a diverse group of over 125 different species (Hammerson 2007; Cossel Jr. 1997). Lizards in this family can be found in Mexico, Panama, most areas of the United States and parts of Canada (Heying 2003). Phrynosomatids range in a variety of forms, but are most commonly distinguished by their small size (less than 10 cm long), rough and keeled scales, spikes on their bodies, and the fusion of the sides of their teeth to the sides of their inner jawbones, known as pleurodont teeth (Heying 2003). The thirteen species in the horned lizard genus, Phrynosoma, can be identified more specifically by their flattened bodies (similar to a toad), small and coarse dorsal scales, camouflaged markings, and a short head with two horns pointing towards their backs (Oklahoma 1996). Of all the Phrynosoma horned lizards, the Texas horned lizard has the largest body and is the most widely dispersed species (Wikipedia 2007).
“Dragons. Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing on their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting- torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks.” (p286)
Cartilaginous and bony fishes were abundant. Large fishes and marine reptiles were common; the largest bony fish ever to live existed at this time called the Leedsichthys, coming in at a mindboggling size. Estimates of the size of this fish range from 20 to 27 meters and mass from 20 to 50 tons (Owen). This species is the largest bony fish ever to have ever existed and swam in what is now near England. Jurassic pliosaurs are some of the largest carnivorous reptiles ever discovered, even rivaling Tyrannosaurus which lived during the Cretaceous Period, although the pliosaurs was not a dinosaur but distant cousins of modern turtles ranging from 4 to 15 meters. The ichthyosaurs were at their height, sharing the oceans with the plesiosaurs, huge marine reptiles covering the globe.
Throughout the old world, people had feared creatures with the body of a large lizard, snake-like eyes, large wings, and that can emit fire from their mouth. They was thought to be the embodiment of evil, greed, lust, violence, and the dark side of humanity. These mythical creatures are called dragons, but the dragon have a different reputation in the Eastern world. In China it was highly respected in the kingdom, a fairly common motif in eastern art for its heavenly related background.
What it looks like: Siberian tiger is the largest and most rare of all members of the cat family. This cat is 8-10 feet long, excluding their 25-38 inch rattling tail. This species of tiger weighs 400-700 pounds. Like all members of the tiger family, males are significantly larger than females.