Komodo Dragon Facts

Komodo Dragon Facts The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest lizard on the face of the Earth today. An ancient species of reptile, it first appeared on the planet more than 100 million years ago- though it was not known to Western science until 1912. Prior to that time, it was known in the West only through rumors of dragon-like lizard living in the Lesser Sunda Islands of the Pacific. Fast Facts: Komodo Dragon Scientific Name: Varanus komodoensisCommon Name(s): Komodo dragon, Komodo monitorBasic Animal Group:  ReptileSize:  6 to 10 feet  Weight: 150–360 poundsLifespan: Up to 30 years  Diet:  CarnivoreHabitat:  Specific Indonesian islandsConservation  Status:  Vulnerable   Description Full-grown Komodo dragons typically grow to six to 10 feet and can weigh 150 pounds- though individual specimens can be as heavy as 350 pounds. They are dull brown, dark grey, or reddish in color, while juveniles are green with yellow and black stripes. Komodo dragons are massive and powerful-looking with bowed legs and muscular tails. Their heads are long and flat, and their snouts are rounded. Their scaly skin is usually a combination of sand-color and gray, providing good camouflage. When in motion, they roll back and forth; at the same time, their yellow tongues flick in and out of their mouths. Jamie Lamb - elusive-images.co.uk/Getty Images Habitat and Distribution Komodo dragons have the smallest home range of any large predator: They live on certain small Indonesian islands of the Lesser Sunda group, including Rintja, Padar, Gila Motang, and Flores, and Komodo, in habitats ranging from beaches to forests to ridge tops. Diet and Behavior Komodo  dragons will eat almost any kind of meat, including both live animals and carrion. Smaller, younger dragons eat small lizards, snakes, and birds, while adults prefer monkeys, goats, and deer. They are also cannibalistic. These lizards are the apex predators of their Indonesian island ecosystems; they occasionally capture live prey by hiding in vegetation and ambushing their victims, although they usually prefer to scavenge already-dead animals. (In fact, the giant size of the Komodo dragon can be explained by its island ecosystem: Like the  long-extinct Dodo Bird, this lizard has no natural predators.) Komodo dragons have good vision and adequate hearing, but rely mostly on their acute sense of smell to detect potential prey; these lizards are also equipped with long, yellow, deeply-forked tongues and sharp serrated teeth, and their rounded snouts, strong limbs, and muscular tails also come in handy when targeting their dinner (Not to mention when dealing with others of their own kind: When Komodo dragons encounter one another in the wild, the dominant individual, usually the largest male, prevails.) Hungry Komodo dragons have been known to run at speeds topping 10 miles per hour, at least for short stretches, making them some of the fastest lizards on the planet. Mi. Sha/Getty Images Reproduction and Offspring The Komodo dragon mating season spans the months of July and August. In September, the females dig egg chambers, in which they lay clutches of up to 30 eggs. The mom-to-be covers her eggs with leaves and then lies over the nest to warm the eggs until they hatch, which requires an unusually long gestation period of seven or eight months. The newborn hatchlings are vulnerable to predation by birds, mammals, and even adult Komodo dragons; for this reason the young scamper up into trees, where an arboreal lifestyle provides them refuge from their natural enemies until they are large enough to defend themselves. Conservation Status Komodo dragons are listed as Vulnerable.  According to the San Diego Zoos website: One study estimated the population of Komodo dragons within Komodo National Park to be 2,405. Another study estimated between 3,000 and 3,100 individuals. On the much larger island of Flores, which is outside the National Park, the number of dragons has been estimated from 300 to 500 animals. While the population is more or less stable, Komodo habitat is continuing to shrink due to increasing human encroachment. Komodo Dragon Venom There has been some controversy about the presence of venom, or the lack of it, in the Komodo dragons saliva. In 2005, researchers in Australia suggested that Komodo dragons (and other monitor lizards) have mildly venomous bites, which can result in swelling, shooting pains, and disruption of blood clotting, at least in human victims; however, this theory has yet to be widely accepted. Theres also the possibility that the saliva of Komodo dragons transmits harmful bacteria, which would breed on the rotting bits of flesh wedged between this reptiles teeth. This wouldnt make the Komodo dragon anything special, though; for decades there has been speculation about the septic bites inflicted by meat-eating dinosaurs! Sources â€Å"Komodo Dragon.†Ã‚  National Geographic, 24 Sept. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/k/komodo-dragon/.â€Å"Komodo Dragon.†Ã‚  San Diego Zoo Global Animals and Plants, animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/komodo-dragon.â€Å"Komodo Dragon.†Ã‚  Smithsonians National Zoo, 9 July 2018, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/komodo-dragon.

Shore It Up

Shore It Up Shore It Up Shore It Up By Maeve Maddox Reading an advice article about the writing of historical fiction, I came across what I assume is an eggcorn for the idiom â€Å"to shore up.† eggcorn: the reshaping of a common word or expression in a way that makes sense to the speaker. The person writing the article drew an analogy between the construction of Machu Picchu and the research that underpins an effective historical novel: [The Incan builders] started at the base of the mountain, and built terraces all the way to the top to sure up the mountain. The writing instructor then compares this physical foundation work to the writing of a novel: Writing historical fiction is much like building Machu Picchu. You want your novel to stand the test of time and that means doing the historical research to â€Å"sure it up.†    Never until then had I come across the expression â€Å"to sure up† in the context of stabilizing, strengthening, or reinforcing something. The conventional idiom is â€Å"to shore up.† As a verb, to shore or to shore up means to prop something up. For example, one might shore up a sagging gate to keep it from scraping the ground. A tunnel might be shored with concrete. The verb shore derives from a noun that referred to a piece of timber or iron that was set against a building or a ship to prevent it from falling while it was being worked on. In modern usage, anything can be used to shore something up. One might shore up a wall by packing earth along the bottom. The verb is used literally in the context of building, reinforcing, or repairing structures: Anticipating a storm, the villagers shored up the sea-wall. The first step is to remove the boards and inspect the post. If its also soft and rot-infested, youll have to shore up the roof temporarily and install a new post thats treated to resist rot. A Web search reveals a quantity of examples of â€Å"sure up† in contexts that call for â€Å"shore up†: PANTHERS – Staying Hungry and Suring Up the Defense   The return of the big man  sures up  the middle of the offense. Prosecutors could use the videotaped interrogations to  sure up their argument  that a confession was genuine. One of the ways to  sure up  your home’s  foundation  is with Helical Piers installed. The use of â€Å"sure up† for â€Å"shore up† is still relatively rare. It flat-lines on the Ngram Viewer, and a Web search for the terms in quotation marks yields 4,670,000 results for â€Å"shore up† compared to 365,000 for â€Å"sure up.† Here are examples of the idiom â€Å"shore up† used correctly in a variety of contexts: How Bobby Wagner’s speed shored up the Seahawks’ defense Prosecutors had asked for the phone and bank records in a last ditch attempt to find evidence to shore up their case.   The bulk of the Snyder increase did not go directly to the schools; it went to shore up the underfunded teachers’ pension fund.   The Federal Reserve’s trillion-dollar effort to shore up the U.S. economy is likely to come to an end in October [2014]. Use your analytic skills to understand [your critic’s] position and to shore up your confidence in your own approach. At first, I thought that all the examples of â€Å"sure up† were incorrect versions of â€Å"shore up,† but I’ve decided that a few are being used with the meaning â€Å"to make sure.† Here is an instance of the latter: Coal supply chain partners in the Hunter Valley have struck a long-awaited agreement to sure up coal producing contracts. The headline above the sentence holds the clue that â€Å"shore up† is not intended: Historic agreement reached in long-running Hunter Valley coal chain dispute, providing certainty on contracts Bottom line: If what you mean is â€Å"to strengthen,† the idiom is â€Å"to shore up.† If what you mean is â€Å"make sure,† the idiom is â€Å"to make sure† or â€Å"to make certain.† Here are some other words that may be used to express the idea of â€Å"making sure† or â€Å"making certain† of something: check confirm ensure assure verify Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.Confused Words #3: Lose, Loose, LossDealing With A Character's Internal Thoughts