Unique feature Komodo dragons kill prey with a layer of iron on their teeth

Researchers have discovered a new deadly quirk of the world's largest lizard: Komodo dragons, also known as Komodo dragons, have a layer of iron on their razor-sharp teeth that helps them kill their prey.

Keystone-SDA

24.07.2024, 17:04

24.07.2024, 17:18

SDA

"This feature has never been observed in a carnivorous reptile," according to the study published on Wednesday, which was carried out under the leadership of scientists from King's College London.

The imposing lizards, which are found exclusively in Indonesia, carry the iron layers in orange pigment, which can be found on the tips and teeth of their jaws. This enables them to kill their prey, which ranges from rodents to water buffalo, even more effectively, as the researchers describe. The concentrated iron therefore plays "a decisive role in supporting the serrated teeth". It was already known that Komodo dragons also kill their prey with a venomous bite.

The scientists also found the iron layers on the teeth of other monitor lizards, of which the Komodo dragon is the largest species, as well as on crocodiles and alligators, as they went on to describe. It is therefore possible that carnivorous dinosaurs were also equipped with the iron layer. However, such a layer has not yet been found on fossils of reptiles and dinosaurs related to Komodo dragons, so the researchers assume that it disappeared over time.

Komodo dragons can grow up to three meters long and weigh up to 90 kilograms. They are found exclusively in the Komodo National Park and the island of Flores in Indonesia and are threatened with extinction. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 3458 specimens are still alive.