Social Structure, Reproduction, and Sleep Habit of Komodo Dragon

Social Structure

Because large Komodos cannibalize young ones, the young often roll in fecal material, thereby assuming a scent that the large dragons are programmed to avoid. Young dragons also undergo rituals of appeasement, with the smaller lizards pacing around a feeding circle in a stately ritualized walk. Their tail is stuck straight out and they throw their body from side to side with exaggerated convulsions.

Reproduction and Development

Most mating occurs between May and August. With a group assembled around the carrion, the opportunity for courtship arrives. Dominant males can become embroiled in ritual combat in their quest for females. Using their tails for support, they wrestle in upright postures, grabbing each other with their forelegs as they attempt to throw the opponent to the ground. Blood is usually drawn and the loser either runs or remains prone and motionless.

The female Komodo lays about 30 eggs. A delay in laying may serve to help the clutch avoid the brutally hot months of the dry season. In addition, unfertilized eggs may have a second chance with a subsequent mating. The female lays her eggs in depressions dug on hill slopes or within the pilfered nests of megapodes—large, chicken-like birds that make nests of heaped earth mixed with twigs that may reach 3 feet (1 meter) in height and 10 feet (3 meters) across. While the eggs are incubating—about nine months—females may lie on the nests, protecting their future offspring. No evidence exists, however, for parental care of newly hatched Komodos.

The hatchlings weigh less than 3.5 ounces (100 grams) and average 16 inches (40 centimeters) in length. Their early years are precarious, and they often fall victim to predators, including their fellow Komodos. They feed on a diverse diet of insects, small lizards, snakes and birds. Should they live five years, they can weigh 55 pounds (25 kilograms) and stretch 6.5 feet (2 meters) long. By this time, they have moved on to bigger prey such as rodents, monkeys, goats, wild boars and the most popular Komodo food, deer. Slow growth continues throughout their lives, which may last more than 30 years

Sleep Habits

They escape the heat of the day and seek refuge at night in burrows that are just barely bigger than they are.

Lifespan

Dragons live about 30 years in the wild, but scientists are still studying this.