Saint Jerome

Some cool prevent hair loss images:

Saint Jerome


Image by Fergal Claddagh
Jerome to his friend, Innocent, on some early martyrs
1. You have frequently asked me, dearest Innocent, not to pass over in silence the marvellous event which has happened in our own day. I have declined the task from modesty and, as I now feel, with justice, believing myself to be incapable of it, at once because bureau language is inadequate to the divine praise, and because inactivity, acting like rust upon the intellect, has dried up any little power of expression that I have ever had. You in reply urge that in the things of God we must look not at the work which we are able to accomplish, but at the spirit in which it is undertaken, and that he can never be at a loss for words who has believed on the Word.

2. What, then, must I do? The task is beyond me, and yet I dare not decline it. I am a mere unskilled passenger, and I find myself placed in charge of a freighted ship. I have not so much as handled a rowboat on a lake, and now I have to trust myself to the noise and turmoil of the Euxine. I see the shores sinking beneath the horizon, "sky and sea on every side"; darkness lowers over the water, the clouds are black as night, the waves only are white with foam. You urge me to hoist the swelling sails, to loosen the sheets, and to take the helm. At last I obey your commands, and as charity can do all things, I will trust in the Holy Spirit to guide my course, and I shall console myself, whatever the event. For, if our ship is wafted by the surf into the wished-for haven, I shall be content to be told that the pilotage was poor. But, if through my unpolished diction we run aground amid the rough cross-currents of language, you may blame my lack of power, but you will at least recognise my good intentions.

3. To begin, then: Vercellae is a Ligurian town, situated not far from the base of the Alps, once important, but now sparsely peopled and fallen into decay. When the consular was holding his visitation there, a poor woman and her paramour were brought before him – the charge of adultery had been fastened upon them by the husband – and were both consigned to the penal horrors of a prison. Shortly after an attempt was made to elicit the truth by torture, and when the blood-stained hook smote the young man’s livid flesh and tore furrows in his side, the unhappy wretch sought to avoid prolonged pain by a speedy death. Falsely accusing his own passions, he involved another in the charge; and it appeared that he was of all men the most miserable, and that his execution was just inasmuch as he had left to an innocent woman no means of self-defence. But the woman, stronger in virtue if weaker in sex, though her frame was stretched upon the rack, and though her hands, stained with the filth of the prison, were tied behind her, looked up to heaven with her eyes, which alone the torturer had been unable to bind, and while the tears rolled down her face, said: "You are witness, Lord Jesus, to whom nothing is hid, who triest the reins and the heart. You are witness that it is not to save my life that I deny this charge. I refuse to lie because to lie is sin. And as for you, unhappy man, if you are bent on hastening your death, why must you destroy not one innocent person, but two? I also, myself, desire to die. I desire to put off this hated body, but not as an adulteress. I offer my neck; I welcome the shining sword without fear; yet I will take my innocence with me. He does not die who is slain while purposing so to live."

4. The consular, who had been feasting his eyes upon the bloody spectacle, now, like a wild beast, which after once tasting blood always thirsts for it, ordered the torture to be doubled, and cruelly gnashing his teeth, threatened the executioner with like punishment if he failed to extort from the weaker sex a confession which a man’s strength had not been able to keep back.

5. Send help, Lord Jesus. For this one creature of yours every species of torture is devised. She is bound by the hair to a stake, her whole body is fixed more firmly than ever on the rack; fire is brought and applied to her feet; her sides quiver beneath the executioner’s probe; even her breasts do not escape. Still the woman remains unshaken; and, triumphing in spirit over the pain of the body, enjoys the happiness of a good conscience, round which the tortures rage in vain. The cruel judge rises, overcome with passion. She still prays to God. Her limbs are wrenched from their sockets she only turns her eyes to heaven. Another confesses what is thought their common guilt. She, for the confessor’s sake, denies the confession, and, in peril of her own life, clears one who is in peril of his.

6. Meantime she has but one thing to say "Beat me, burn me, tear me, if you will; I have not done it. If you will not believe my words, a day will come when this charge shall be carefully sifted. I have One who will judge me." Wearied out at last, the torturer sighed in response to her groans; nor could he find a spot on which to inflict a fresh wound. His cruelty overcome, he shuddered to see the body he had torn. Immediately the consular cried, in a fit of passion, "Why does it surprise you, bystanders, that a woman prefers torture to death? It takes two people, most assuredly, to commit adultery; and I think it more credible that a guilty woman should deny a sin than that an innocent young man should confess one."

7. Like sentence, accordingly, was passed on both, and the condemned pair were dragged to execution. The entire people poured out to see the sight; indeed, so closely were the gates thronged by the out-rushing crowd, that you might have fancied the city itself to be migrating. At the very first stroke of the sword the head of the hapless youth was cut off, and the headless trunk rolled over in its blood. Then came the woman’s turn. She knelt down upon the ground, and the shining sword was lifted over her quivering neck. But though the headsman summoned all his strength into his bared arm, the moment it touched her flesh the fatal blade stopped short, and, lightly glancing over the skin, merely grazed it sufficiently to draw blood. The striker saw, with terror, his hand unnerved, and, amazed at his defeated skill and at his drooping sword, he whirled it aloft for another stroke. Again the blade fell forceless on the woman, sinking harmlessly on her neck, as though the steel feared to touch her. The enraged and panting officer, who had thrown open his cloak at the neck to give his full strength to the blow, shook to the ground the brooch which clasped the edges of his mantle, and not noticing this, began to poise his sword for a fresh stroke. "See," cried the woman, "a jewel has fallen from your shoulder. Pick up what you have earned by hard toil, that you may not lose it."

8. What, I ask, is the secret of such confidence as this? Death draws near, but it has no terrors for her. When smitten she exults, and the executioner turns pale. Her eyes see the brooch, they fail to see the sword. And, as if intrepidity in the presence of death were not enough, she confers a favour upon her cruel foe. And now the mysterious Power of the Trinity rendered even a third blow vain. The terrified soldier, no longer trusting the blade, proceeded to apply the point to her throat, in the idea that though it might not cut, the pressure of his hand might plunge it into her flesh. Marvel unheard of through all the ages! The sword bent back to the hilt, and in its defeat looked to its master, as if confessing its inability to slay.

9. Let me call to my aid the example of the three children, who, amid the cool, encircling fire, sang hymns, instead of weeping, and around whose turbans and holy hair the flames played harmlessly. Let me recall, too, the story of the blessed Daniel, in whose presence, though he was their natural prey, the lions crouched, with fawning tails and frightened mouths. Let Susannah also rise in the nobility of her faith before the thoughts of all; who, after she had been condemned by an unjust sentence, was saved through a youth inspired by the Holy Spirit. In both cases the Lord’s mercy was alike shown; for while Susannah was set free by the judge, so as not to die by the sword, this woman, though condemned by the judge, was acquitted by the sword.

10. Now at length the populace rise in arms to defend the woman. Men and women of every age join in driving away the executioner, shouting round him in a surging crowd. Hardly a man dares trust his own eyes. The disquieting news reaches the city close at hand, and the entire force of constables is mustered. The officer who is responsible for the execution of criminals bursts from among his men, and Staining his hoary hair with soiling dust, exclaims: "What! citizens, do you mean to seek my life? Do you intend to make me a substitute for her? However much your minds are set on mercy, and however much you wish to save a condemned woman, yet assuredly I – I who am innocent – ought not to perish." His tearful appeal tells upon the crowd, they are all benumbed by the influence of sorrow, and an extraordinary change of feeling is manifested. Before it had seemed a duty to plead for the woman’s life, now it seemed a duty to allow her to be executed.

11. Accordingly a new sword is fetched, a new headsman appointed. The victim takes her place, once more strengthened only with the favour of Christ. The first blow makes her quiver, beneath the second she sways to and fro, by the third she falls wounded to the ground. Oh, majesty of the divine power highly to be extolled! She who previously had received four strokes without injury, now, a few moments later, seems to die that an innocent man may not perish in her stead.

12. Those of the clergy whose duty it is to wrap the blood-stained corpse in a winding-sheet, dig out the earth and, heaping together stones, form the customary tomb. The sunset comes on quickly, and by God’s mercy the night of nature arrives more swiftly than is its wont. Suddenly the woman’s bosom heaves, her eyes seek the light, her body is enlivened into new life. A moment after she sighs, she looks round, she gets up and speaks. At last she is able to cry: "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

13. Meantime an aged woman, supported out of the funds of the church, gave back her spirit to heaven from which it came. It seemed as if the course of events had been so purposely ordered, for her body took the place of the other beneath the mound. In the gray dawn the devil comes on the scene in the form of a constable, asks for the corpse of her who had been slain, and desires to have her grave pointed out to him. Surprised that she could have died, he fancies her to be still alive. The clergy show him the fresh turf, and meet his demands by pointing to the earth lately heaped up, taunting him with such words as these: "Yes, of course, tear up the bones which have been buried! Declare war anew against the tomb, and if even that does not satisfy you, pluck her limb from limb for birds and beasts to mangle! Mere dying is too good for one whom it took seven strokes to kill."

14. Before such opprobrious words the executioner retires in confusion, while the woman is secretly revived at home. Then, in case the frequency of the doctor’s visits to the Church might give occasion for suspicion, they cut her hair short and send her in the company of some virgins to a sequestered country house. There she changes her dress for that of a man, and scares form over her wounds. Yet even after the great miracles worked on her behalf, the laws still rage against her. So true is it that, where there is most law, there, there is also most injustice.

15. But now see where the progress of my story has brought me; we come upon the name of our friend Evagrius. So great have his exertions been in the cause of Christ that, were I to suppose it possible adequately to describe them, I should only show my own folly; and were I minded deliberately to pass them by, I still could not prevent my voice from breaking out into cries of joy. Who can fittingly praise the vigilance which enabled him to bury, if I may so say, before his death Auxentius of Milan, that curse brooding over the church? Or who can sufficiently extol the discretion with which he rescued the Roman bishop from the toils of the net in which he was fairly entangled, and showed him the means at once of overcoming his opponents and of sparing them in their discomfiture? But such topics I must leave to other bards, shut out by narrow straits of time and space.
I am satisfied now to record the conclusion of my tale. Evagrius seeks a special audience of the Emperor; importunes him with his entreaties, wins his favour by his services, and finally gains his cause through his earnestness. The Emperor restored to liberty the woman whom God had restored to life.

Shark Reef Aquarium, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada (3)


Image by Ken Lund
Komodo dragon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Komodo Dragon)
Jump to: navigation, search
Komodo dragon[1]

Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Suborder: Scleroglossa

Family: Varanidae

Genus: Varanus

Species: V. komodoensis

Binomial name
Varanus komodoensis
Ouwens, 1912[2]

Komodo dragon distribution
The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a venomous species of lizard that inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang in Indonesia.[3] A member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae), it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to an average length of 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft) and weighing around 70 kilograms (150 lb). Their unusual size is attributed to island gigantism, since there are no other carnivorous animals to fill the niche on the islands where they live, and also to the Komodo dragon’s low metabolic rate.[4][5] As a result of their size, these lizards dominate the ecosystems in which they live.[6] Although Komodo dragons eat mostly carrion, they will also hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals.

Mating begins between May and August, and the eggs are laid in September. About twenty eggs are deposited in abandoned megapode nests and incubated for seven to eight months, hatching in April, when insects are most plentiful. Young Komodo dragons are vulnerable and therefore dwell in trees, safe from predators and cannibalistic adults. They take around three to five years to mature, and may live as long as fifty years. They are among the rare vertebrates capable of parthenogenesis, in which females may lay viable eggs if males are absent.[7]

Komodo dragons were discovered by Western scientists in 1910. Their large size and fearsome reputation make them popular zoo exhibits. In the wild their range has contracted due to human activities and they are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. They are protected under Indonesian law, and a national park, Komodo National Park, was founded to aid protection efforts.

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Evolutionary history
3 Description
3.1 Senses
4 Ecology
4.1 Diet
4.2 Venom
4.3 Reproduction
4.4 Parthenogenesis
5 History
5.1 Discovery by the Western world
5.2 Studies
6 Danger to humans
7 Conservation
7.1 In captivity
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading

[edit] Etymology
The Komodo dragon is also known as the Komodo monitor or the Komodo Island monitor in scientific literature, although this is not very common.[1] To the natives of Komodo Island, it is referred to as ora, buaya darat (land crocodile) or biawak raksasa (giant monitor).[8][9]

[edit] Evolutionary history
The evolutionary development of the Komodo dragon started with the Varanus genus, which originated in Asia about 40 million years ago and migrated to Australia. Around 15 million years ago, a collision between Australia and Southeast Asia allowed the varanids to move into what is now the Indonesian archipelago. The Komodo dragon is believed to have differentiated from its Australian ancestors 4 million years ago, extending their range to as far east as the island of Timor. Dramatic lowering of sea level during the last glacial period uncovered extensive stretches of continental shelf that the Komodo dragon colonized, becoming isolated in their present island range as sea levels rose afterwards.[9]

[edit] Description

Closeup of a Komodo dragon’s skinIn the wild, an adult Komodo dragon usually weighs around 70 kilograms (150 lb),[10] although captive specimens often weigh more. The largest verified wild specimen was 3.13 metres (10.3 ft) long and weighed 166 kilograms (370 lb), including undigested food.[9] The Komodo dragon has a tail as long as its body, as well as about 60 frequently replaced serrated teeth that can measure up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in length. Its saliva is frequently blood-tinged, because its teeth are almost completely covered by gingival tissue that is naturally lacerated during feeding.[11] This creates an ideal culture for the virulent bacteria that live in its mouth.[12] It also has a long, yellow, deeply forked tongue.[9]

[edit] Senses
The Komodo dragon does not have a particularly acute sense of hearing, despite its visible earholes, and is only able to hear sounds between 400 and 2000 hertz.[9][13] It is able to see as far away as 300 metres (980 ft), but because its retinas only contain cones, it is thought to have poor night vision. The Komodo dragon is able to see in color, but has poor visual discrimination of stationary objects.[14]

A Komodo dragon on Komodo Island uses his tongue to sample the air.The Komodo dragon uses its tongue to detect, taste, and smell stimuli, as with many other reptiles, with the vomeronasal sense using a Jacobson’s organ, a sense that aids navigation in the dark.[12] With the help of a favorable wind and its habit of swinging its head from side to side as it walks, Komodo dragons may be able to detect carrion from 4–9.5 kilometres (2.5–6 mi) away.[11][14] The dragon’s nostrils are not of great use for smelling, as the animal does not have a diaphragm.[11][15] It only has a few taste buds in the back of its throat.[12] Its scales, some of which are reinforced with bone, have sensory plaques connected to nerves that facilitate its sense of touch. The scales around the ears, lips, chin, and soles of the feet may have three or more sensory plaques.[11]

The Komodo dragon was formerly thought to be deaf when a study reported no agitation in wild Komodo dragons in response to whispers, raised voices, or shouts. This was disputed when London Zoological Garden employee Joan Proctor trained a captive specimen to come out to feed at the sound of her voice, even when she could not be seen.[16]

[edit] Ecology

Close-up of a Komodo dragon’s foot and tailThe Komodo dragon prefers hot and dry places, and typically lives in dry open grassland, savanna, and tropical forest at low elevations. As an ectotherm, it is most active in the day, although it exhibits some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are largely solitary, coming together only to breed and eat. They are capable of running rapidly in brief sprints up to 20 kilometres per hour (12.4 mph), diving up to 4.5 metres (15 ft), and climbing trees proficiently when young through use of their strong claws.[10] To catch prey that is out of reach, the Komodo dragon may stand on its hind legs and use its tail as a support.[16] As the Komodo dragon matures, its claws are used primarily as weapons, as its great size makes climbing impractical.[11]

For shelter, the Komodo dragon digs holes that can measure from 1–3 metres (3–10 ft) wide with its powerful forelimbs and claws.[17] Because of its large size and habit of sleeping in these burrows, it is able to conserve body heat throughout the night and minimize its basking period the morning after.[18] The Komodo dragon typically hunts in the afternoon, but stays in the shade during the hottest part of the day.[19] These special resting places, usually located on ridges with a cool sea breeze, are marked with droppings and are cleared of vegetation. They also serve as a strategic location from which to ambush deer.[20]

[edit] Diet

Komodo dragons on RincaKomodo dragons are carnivores. Although they eat mostly carrion,[4] they will also ambush live prey with a stealthy approach, a technique that has allowed the Komodo dragon to capture even the most lethal prey, such as the King Cobra. When suitable prey arrives near a dragon’s ambush site, it will suddenly charge at the animal and go for the underside or the throat.[11] It is able to locate its prey using its keen sense of smell, which can locate a dead or dying animal from a range of up to 9.5 kilometers (6 miles).[11] Komodo dragons have also been observed knocking down large pigs and deer with their strong tail.[21]

Komodo dragons eat by tearing large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole while holding the carcass down with their forelegs. For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allow it to swallow its prey whole. The vegetable contents of the stomach and intestines are typically avoided.[20][clarification needed] Copious amounts of red saliva that the Komodo dragons produce help to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). Komodo dragons may attempt to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully that the tree is knocked down.[20] To prevent itself from suffocating while swallowing, it breathes using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs.[11] After eating up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal,[6] it drags itself to a sunny location to speed digestion, as the food could rot and poison the dragon if left undigested for too long. Because of their slow metabolism, large dragons can survive on as little as 12 meals a year.[11] After digestion, the Komodo dragon regurgitates a mass of horns, hair, and teeth known as the gastric pellet, which is covered in malodorous mucus. After regurgitating the gastric pellet, it rubs its face in the dirt or on bushes to get rid of the mucus, suggesting that it, like humans, does not relish the scent of its own excretions.[11]

A young Komodo dragon photographed on Rinca feeding on a water buffalo carcassThe largest animals generally eat first, while the smaller ones follow a hierarchy. The largest male asserts his dominance and the smaller males show their submission by use of body language and rumbling hisses. Dragons of equal size may resort to "wrestling." Losers usually retreat though they have been known to be killed and eaten by victors.[11]

The Komodo dragon’s diet is wide-ranging, and includes invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boar, goats, deer, horses, and water buffalo.[22] Young Komodos will eat insects, eggs, geckos, and small mammals.[4] Occasionally they consume humans and human corpses, digging up bodies from shallow graves.[16] This habit of raiding graves caused the villagers of Komodo to move their graves from sandy to clay ground and pile rocks on top of them to deter the lizards.[20] The Komodo dragon may have evolved to feed on the extinct dwarf elephant Stegodon that once lived on Flores, according to evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond.[23] The Komodo dragon has also been observed intentionally startling a pregnant deer in the hopes of a miscarriage whose remains they can eat, a technique that has also been observed in large African predators.[23]

Because the Komodo dragon does not have a diaphragm, it cannot suck water when drinking, nor can it lap water with its tongue. Instead, it drinks by taking a mouthful of water, lifting its head, and letting the water run down its throat.[11]

[edit] Venom

A sleeping Komodo dragon. Its large, curved claws are used in fighting and eating.Auffenberg described the Komodo dragon as having septic pathogens in its saliva, specifically the bacteria: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp., Providencia sp., Proteus morgani and P. mirabilis.[24] He noted that while these pathogens can be found in the mouths of wild Komodo dragons, they disappear from the mouths of captive animals, due to a cleaner diet.[24][25] This was verified by taking mucous samples from the external gum surface of the upper jaw of two freshly captured individuals.[24][25] Saliva samples were analyzed by researchers at the University of Texas who found 57 different strains of bacteria growing in the mouths of three wild Komodo dragons including Pasteurella multocida.[9][26] The rapid growth of this bacteria was noted by Friedking: "Normally it takes about three days for a sample of P. multocida to cover a petri dish,Ours took eight hours. We were very taken aback by how virulent these strains were".[27] This study supported the observation that wounds inflicted by the Komodo dragon are often associated with sepsis and subsequent infections in prey animals.[26]

In late 2005, researchers at the University of Melbourne speculated that the perentie (Varanus giganteus), other species of monitor, and agamids may be somewhat venomous. The team believes that the immediate effects of bites from these lizards were caused by mild envenomation. Bites on human digits by a lace monitor (V. varius), a Komodo dragon, and a spotted tree monitor (V. scalaris) all produced similar effects: rapid swelling, localized disruption of blood clotting, and shooting pain up to the elbow, with some symptoms lasting for several hours.[28]

In 2009, the same researchers published further evidence demonstrating that Komodo dragons possess a venomous bite. MRI scans of a preserved skull showed the presence of two venom glands in the lower jaw. They extracted one of these glands from the head of a terminally ill specimen in the Singapore Zoological Gardens, and found that it secreted a venom containing several different toxic proteins. The known functions of these proteins include inhibition of blood clotting, lowering of blood pressure, muscle paralysis, and the induction of hypothermia, leading to shock and loss of consciousness in envenomated prey.[29][30] As a result of the discovery, the previous theory that bacteria were responsible for the deaths of komodo victims was disputed.[31]

It has been proposed that all venomous lizards, together with their nonvenomous relatives and all snakes, share a common venomous ancestor.[28]

[edit] Reproduction
Mating occurs between May and August, with the eggs laid in September.[9] During this period, males fight over females and territory by grappling with one another upon their hind legs with the loser eventually being pinned to the ground. These males may vomit or defecate when preparing for the fight.[16] The winner of the fight will then flick his long tongue at the female to gain information about her receptivity.[6] Females are antagonistic and resist with their claws and teeth during the early phases of courtship. Therefore, the male must fully restrain the female during coitus to avoid being hurt. Other courtship displays include males rubbing their chins on the female, hard scratches to the back, and licking.[32] Copulation occurs when the male inserts one of his hemipenes into the female’s cloaca.[14] Komodo dragons may be monogamous and form "pair bonds", a rare behavior for lizards.[16]

A Komodo dragon with its long tail and claws fully visibleThe female lays her eggs in burrows cut into the side of a hill or in the abandoned nesting mounds of the Orange-footed Scrubfowl (a moundbuilder or megapode), with a preference for the abandoned mounds.[33] Clutches contain an average of 20 eggs which have an incubation period of 7–8 months.[16] The female lies on the eggs to incubate and protect them until they hatch around April, at the end of the rainy season when insects are plentiful. Hatching is an exhausting effort for the pups, who break out of their eggshells with an egg tooth that falls off soon after. After cutting out the hatchlings may lie in their eggshells for hours before starting to dig out of the nest. They are born quite defenseless, and many are eaten by predators.[11]

Young Komodo dragons spend much of their first few years in trees, where they are relatively safe from predators, including cannibalistic adults, who make juvenile dragons 10% of their diet.[16] According to David Attenborough, the habit of cannibalism may be advantageous in sustaining the large size of adults, as medium-sized prey on the islands is rare.[21] When the young must approach a kill, they roll around in fecal matter and rest in the intestines of eviscerated animals to deter these hungry adults.[16] Komodo dragons take about three to five years to mature, and may live for up to 50 years.[17]

[edit] Parthenogenesis
Main article: Parthenogenesis
A Komodo dragon at London Zoo named Sungai laid a clutch of eggs in late 2005 after being separated from male company for more than two years. Scientists initially assumed that she had been able to store sperm from her earlier encounter with a male, an adaptation known as superfecundation.[34] On December 20, 2006, it was reported that Flora, a captive Komodo dragon living in the Chester Zoo in England, was the second known Komodo dragon to have laid unfertilized eggs: she laid 11 eggs, and 7 of them hatched, all of them male.[35] Scientists at Liverpool University in England performed genetic tests on three eggs that collapsed after being moved to an incubator, and verified that Flora had never been in physical contact with a male dragon. After Flora’s eggs’ condition had been discovered, testing showed that Sungai’s eggs were also produced without outside fertilization.[36]

A parthenogenetic baby Komodo dragon, Chester Zoo, EnglandKomodo dragons have the ZW chromosomal sex-determination system, as opposed to the mammalian XY system. Male progeny prove that Flora’s unfertilized eggs were haploid (n) and doubled their chromosomes later to become diploid (2n) (by being fertilized by a polar body, or by chromosome duplication without cell division), rather than by her laying diploid eggs by one of the meiosis reduction-divisions in her ovaries failing). When a female Komodo dragon (with ZW sex chromosomes) reproduces in this manner, she provides her progeny with only one chromosome from each of her pairs of chromosomes, including only one of her two sex chromosomes. This single set of chromosomes is duplicated in the egg, which develops parthenogenetically. Eggs receiving a Z chromosome become ZZ (male); those receiving a W chromosome become WW and fail to develop.[37][38]

It has been hypothesized that this reproductive adaptation allows a single female to enter an isolated ecological niche (such as an island) and by parthenogenesis produce male offspring, thereby establishing a sexually reproducing population (via reproduction with her offspring that can result in both male and female young).[37] Despite the advantages of such an adaptation, zoos are cautioned that parthenogenesis may be detrimental to genetic diversity.[39]

On January 31, 2008, the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas became the first zoo in the Americas to document parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons. The zoo has two adult female Komodo dragons, one of which laid about 17 eggs on May 19–20, 2007. Only two eggs were incubated and hatched due to space issues; the first hatched on January 31, 2008 while the second hatched on February 1. Both hatchlings were males.[40][41]

[edit] History

[edit] Discovery by the Western world

Komodo dragon coin, issued by IndonesiaKomodo dragons were first documented by Europeans in 1910, when rumors of a "land crocodile" reached Lieutenant van Steyn van Hensbroek of the Dutch colonial administration.[42] Widespread notoriety came after 1912, when Peter Ouwens, the director of the Zoological Museum at Bogor, Java, published a paper on the topic after receiving a photo and a skin from the lieutenant, as well as two other specimens from a collector.[2] Later, the Komodo dragon was the driving factor for an expedition to Komodo Island by W. Douglas Burden in 1926. After returning with 12 preserved specimens and 2 live ones, this expedition provided the inspiration for the 1933 movie King Kong.[43] It was also Burden who coined the common name "Komodo dragon."[19] Three of his specimens were stuffed and are still on display in the American Museum of Natural History.[44]

[edit] Studies
The Dutch, realizing the limited number of individuals in the wild, outlawed sport hunting and heavily limited the number of individuals taken for scientific study. Collecting expeditions ground to a halt with the occurrence of World War II, not resuming until the 1950s and 1960s, when studies examined the Komodo dragon’s feeding behavior, reproduction, and body temperature. At around this time, an expedition was planned in which a long-term study of the Komodo dragon would be undertaken. This task was given to the Auffenberg family, who stayed on Komodo Island for 11 months in 1969. During their stay, Walter Auffenberg and his assistant Putra Sastrawan captured and tagged more than 50 Komodo dragons.[27] The research from the Auffenberg expedition would prove to be enormously influential in raising Komodo dragons in captivity.[3] Research after the Auffenberg family has shed more light on the nature of the Komodo dragon, with biologists such as Claudio Ciofi continuing to study the creatures.[45]

[edit] Danger to humans
Although attacks are very rare, Komodo dragons have been known to attack humans; five people have been killed since 1974. These fatal attacks were in 1974, 2000, 2005, 2007 [46] and 2009. They are considered especially dangerous to children. On June 4, 2007 a Komodo dragon attacked an eight-year-old boy on Komodo Island. The boy later died of massive bleeding from his wounds. It was the first recorded fatal attack in 33 years.[47] Natives blamed the attack on environmentalists outside the island prohibiting goat sacrifices. This denied the Komodo dragons their expected food source, causing them to wander into human civilization in search of food. A belief held by many natives of Komodo Island is that Komodo dragons are actually the reincarnation of fellow kinspeople and should thus be treated with reverence.[48][49]

On March 24, 2009, two Komodo Dragons attacked and killed fisherman Muhamad Anwar on Komodo. Anwar was attacked after he fell out of a sugar-apple tree and was left bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs, and neck. He was taken to a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores where he was pronounced dead on arrival.[50]

[edit] Conservation

A basking Komodo dragon photographed at Disney’s Animal KingdomThe Komodo dragon is a vulnerable species and is found on the IUCN Red List.[51] There are approximately 4,000–5,000 living Komodo dragons in the wild. Their populations are restricted to the islands of Gili Motang (100), Gili Dasami (100), Rinca (1,300), Komodo (1,700), and Flores (perhaps 2,000).[3] However, there are concerns that there may presently be only 350 breeding females.[8] To address these concerns, the Komodo National Park was founded in 1980 to protect Komodo dragon populations on islands including Komodo, Rinca, and Padar.[52] Later, the Wae Wuul and Wolo Tado Reserves were opened on Flores to aid with Komodo dragon conservation.[45] There is evidence that Komodo dragons became accustomed to human presence, as they were often fed animal carcasses at several feeding stations by tourists and sacrifices from natives before a hunt.[4][48] As these practices have been outlawed, attacks on humans by the lizards has increased.[48]

Volcanic activity, earthquakes, loss of habitat, fire (the population at Padar was almost destroyed because of a wildfire, and has since mysteriously disappeared),[11][45] loss of prey, tourism, and poaching have all contributed to the vulnerable status of the Komodo dragon. Under Appendix I of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), commercial trade of skins or specimens is illegal.[15][53]

The Australian biologist Tim Flannery has suggested that the Australian ecosystem may benefit from the introduction of Komodo dragons, as it could partially occupy the large-carnivore niche left vacant following the extinction of the giant varanid Megalania. However, he argues for great caution and gradualness in these acclimatisation experiments, especially as "the problem of predation of large varanids upon humans should not be understated". He uses the example of the successful coexistence with saltwater crocodiles as evidence that Australians could successfully adjust.[54]

[edit] In captivity

A Komodo dragon at Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Despite the visible earholes, Komodo dragons cannot hear very well.Komodo dragons have long been great zoo attractions, where their size and reputation make them popular exhibits. They are, however, rare in zoos because they are susceptible to infection and parasitic disease if captured from the wild, and do not readily reproduce.[8] As of May 2009, there are 13 European, 2 African, 35 North American, 1 Singaporean, and 2 Australian institutions that keep Komodo dragons.[55]

The first Komodo dragon was exhibited in 1934 at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, but it lived for only two years. More attempts to exhibit Komodo dragons were made, but the lifespan of these creatures was very short, averaging five years in the National Zoological Park. Studies done by Walter Auffenberg, which were documented in his book The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor, eventually allowed for more successful managing and reproducing of the dragons in captivity.[3]

It has been observed in captive dragons that many individuals display relatively tame behavior within a short period of time in captivity. Many occurrences are reported where keepers have brought the animals out of their enclosures to interact with zoo visitors, including young children, to no harmful effect.[56][57] Dragons are also capable of recognizing individual humans. Ruston Hartdegen of the Dallas Zoo reported that their Komodo dragons reacted differently when presented with their regular keeper, a less familiar keeper, or a completely unfamiliar keeper.[58]

Research with captive Komodo dragons has also provided evidence that they engage in play. One study concerned an individual who would push a shovel left by its keeper, apparently attracted to the sound of it scraping across the rocky surface. A young female dragon at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. would grab and shake various objects including statues, beverage cans, plastic rings and blankets. She would also insert her head into boxes, shoes, and other objects. She did not confuse these objects with food, as she would only swallow them if they were covered in rat blood. This social play has led to a striking comparison with mammalian play.[6]

Komodo dragons at Toronto Zoo. Komodo dragons in captivity often grow fat, especially in their tails, due to regular feeding.Another documentation of play in Komodo dragons comes from the University of Tennessee, where a young Komodo dragon named "Kraken" interacted with plastic rings, a shoe, a bucket, and a tin can by nudging them with her snout, swiping at them, and carrying them around in her mouth. She treated all of them differently than her food, prompting leading researcher Gordon Burghardt to conclude that they disprove the view of object play being "food-motivated predatory behavior." Kraken was the first Komodo dragon hatched in captivity outside of Indonesia, born in the National Zoo on September 13, 1992.[9][59]

Even seemingly docile dragons may become aggressive unpredictably, especially when the animal’s territory is invaded by someone unfamiliar. In June 2001, a Komodo dragon seriously injured Phil Bronstein—executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle—when he entered its enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo after being invited in by its keeper. Bronstein was bitten on his bare foot, as the keeper had told him to take off his white shoes, which could have potentially excited the Komodo dragon.[60][61] Although he escaped, he needed to have several tendons in his foot reattached surgically.[62]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_Dragon

Silvery Plant


Image by daryl_mitchell
There is an abundance of silver-leaved plants in the sand hills. The silver colour comes from fine hairs that grow on the surface of the green leaves. The hairs reflect sunlight and keep the leaves from overheating. They also prevent wind from disturbing the leaf surface, minimizing moisture loss.

Related Blogs

• Throat Pain – what could be the problem? – MIROV
• Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga xbox360 | isogamesxpw
• What Bacteria causes Strep Throat? | Health Related Articles
• What They Use – Patrick Meier – The Ushahidi Blog
• Size Doesn't Matter: BMW Delivers Big Boy Profits | The Truth …
• Brain Size of Children Yields Clues to Autism | The Autism News
• That VideoGame Blog » Crysis 2, Dragon Age 2, and Dead Space 2 …
• No Need To Fall Prey For An Uncertfied Lock Specialist In Maynard …
• Congress to Examine “Inappropriate” and “Devastating” Use of …
• Why must people buy designer plus size cargo pants » Free Press …
• Will NASA Send a Dragon to Mars? | Parabolic Arc
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Convoy Map Gameplay Ambush [HD] | JHBurma
• Youtube removes Mercy For Animals Video Of dairy Calf abuse …
• Sequels Sell: Dragon Age 2, Crysis 2, Dead Space 2 All Hit Over 2 …
• Fighter-Size Phantom Ray UAV Flies Into Your Nightmares
• Printable Coupons: Breyers Ice Cream , Ragu Pasta Sauce and More …
• Shania Twain Nearly Quitting Music After Throat And Emotions Fail …
• Balloon Juice » The body of an Arabian
• Did Asustek's Eee Pad Transformer fall prey of Apple's buying …
• Careful With That Tongue! – Daily Squee – Cute Baby Animals