my biology teacher told us about a peice of flesh that was found in romania that was 10% different from a kimodo dragon so he thinks that kimodo dragons could evolve into the fantosy firebreathing monsters in the next 500-900 years

plz reply

i think youll find a kimono is a type of japanese dress and that komodo is the word youre looking for

happy now and i am not talking crap

Same goes to you. Consider this a warning... if you reply to someone like that again your posting account will be swiftly suspended for a short while, you may not agree with what he is saying but there is no need or excuse for outright rudeness... capiche?

Well I doubt they would evolve into fire breathing dragons and even if they did it would take a lot longer than 500 - 900 years.
Anyway I don't see why they would need to breath fire

500-900 years isn't a long time for something to evolve... for a komodo dragon to change so radically into a fire-breathing dragon would likely require a LOT longer than that. Then there's the small issue of why on earth a Komodo dragon would ever need to evolve to breathe fire... or if it is even biologically possible for them to.

heh, their bacteria-filled saliva is more than powerful enough than to need to be able to breath fire, plus if they could breath fire then they couldnt track the victom if it escaped. but with their current techniques, they can follow the scent of their victom (as can other komodo dragons) because of their saliva. and if their powerful and deadly bite doesn't kill them, the infection caused by the bacteria will kill them in no time at all.

They are actually very frightening creatures... definately rank in my Top 5 animals that I wouldn't like to meet face to face without something very thick seperating us...

Actually, Komodo dragons and other monitor lizards were recently discovered to posses a weak form of the same vemon found in many poisonous snakes. Tales of the large lizards and how deadly they are may have become distorted over the centuries and eventually evolved into tales of fire-breathing dragons.

Komodos do not need to breathe fire on their prey to track it. Like snakes, they have a well developed sense of taste in their tongues and can track prey across the riocky terrain of their home islands and can even smell fresh carcasses on other islands and will swim the miles of open ocean to get to it. The larger specimens doing this may have bbeen the inspiration for some of the sea serpent legends since they swim using a sinous motion just as snakes do.

Australia was once home to relatives of the Komodo dragon that make it look like a pet store lizard. These giants supposedly grew to lengths of 20 to 30 feet or more and are rumored to still exist int he Outback.

I cannot imagine any biology teacher that would say something so ridiculous as that about komodo dragons. It must have been a joke, possibly inspired by the "piece of flesh" of the Loch Ness Monster that was discussed on this forum. He was probably just seeing how much attention people were paying to his lecture!

The huge relative of the Komodo dragon from Australia is the Megalania Prisca, large enough to swallow an adult human whole, and may have, for the fossil evidence suggests they were still around in man first arrived in Australia. Because they are not very ancient, compared to dinosaurs, with real bone samples, this would be a good candidate for recreating a fossil animal, using their dna and Komodo dragon eggs. The Japanese, I understand, are trying to do the same thing with Mammoth DNA and elephants.

I have been bitten by other large monitors, catching different species in the wild and have a pet monitor nearly six feet long behind me as I type this. Their bites can be highly infectious, and I would agree about the possibility of their saliva being mildly venomous from the effect the bites have sometimes had on me.

Fire spewing (not breathing) dragons probably saw their origin in the Bible, as this seems to be the earliest recorded text describing this feat, though dragons themselves are recorded in much older ancient texts, and dragon-like beasts can be seen painted on rocks in various places around the world before recorded history.

If fire spewing dragons exist, they are probably "heavenly creatures" much like "angels", and fit into the angelic hierarchy by their names Seraphim and Cherubim.

Komodo dragons, should more appropriately be called Komodo monitors, and would not be related to the biblical and legendary dragons save for the fact that dragons are mostly described as being distinctly reptilian in nature.

Komodos are plenty lethal, without the need for fire-breathing.
As was already pointed out, their saliva is laden with toxic bacteria. Also, they are pure muscle, and can crunch large bones in their jas, have long, sharp claws, and can drag off sizeable prey.

Komodo Dragons would not be able to evolve into "fire-breathers" because that is physically impossible...The bites of monitor lizards are extremely painful, but are not as dangerous as a Komodo dragon's...

DC, I am intrigued, what kind of monitor do you have?

I do not see why it would need to evolve. I mean, if it could breath fire and fly, it would be the ultimate predator. Anyways, thats way too short of a period to evolve. Especially from a fire breathing monster to a monitar lizard.

I don't think its possible, most certainly not in the next few thousand years, and it would take millions most likely to develop the ability to breathe fire, you need new glands, new flame resistant tissues, greatly different body chemistry, plus theres really no need to cause such an evolution.

l agree with what the majority of the post that said komodo dragons would probably not evolve into fire breathers anytime soon and if they did it would take more than 500 to 900 years more likely it would take 500 million to 900 million years if that even.

The frilly bits of the Kimono could be mistaken as wings I suppose. If the lizard spread their dress before leaping off a cliff, it might serve as a air retardant device. A futhur evolution might be the parachute and then finally a stealth fighter.
Thats lack of imagination! The backdraft from the jet engine is frequently mistaken for the dragon's fire. Flying is always cool and what lizard doesn't want to fly?

I don't understand why everybody's talking about the fire spewing-thing... howabout evolving wings?! I think that there's a bigger possibility that komodos will evolve fire-breath rather then wings... And they don't need neither... My opinion is that if komodos will evolve into something else it's to a smaller lizard...

I agree, IMHO

All there larger food sources are being diminished so they don't need to be as large and use a body that burns that much energy. Such a large body might become "obsolete" in the future as all the prey might become smaller animals. So the smaller genetically animals would have greater success in living, so the gene pool would become smaller and eventually evolve into a smaller cousin that is totally different.


A new species all in theory

I don't understand why people are fixated on the idea of Komodo "dragons" needing to spew fire. It is just a lizard they call a dragon, just like the much smaller agama lizards also called dragons. It is a monitor, not a dragon and would never evolve into a mythical/biblicalltype dragon, which if real, must have a supernatural origin.

Yes, Indeed. We can actually see this "shrinking" trend in the American Alligator. They are fully mature and breed at a smaller size now and the huge "bulls" reported in the 19th century and before are practically nonexisitent now. The giant South American croc may not have necesarily gone extinct, but similarly "shrunk" as the huge mammalian prey disappeared.

Frogfish, my current big monitor is a blackthroat, which has the stocky, massive look of a Komodo. When I lived in Europe I had two huge Asian Water Monitors, and have also caught (and released) these in Sri Lanka as well as Desert monitors while stationed in Iraq. If you read Reptiles magazine you may have seen me holding a huge, nearly 8 foot water monitor I caught in Sri Lanka, with a 32 in. waist. I won the contest for the "biggest lizard".

well if they evolved wings, it'll save them swimming and it'll also let them get to their prey a lot faster, and even be able to ambush and surprise attack their prey. so yeah, as someone stated earlier, they could evolve the ability to have a-kind-of parachute, and after that perhaps wings. I mean, they already have the mucsle power to power their flight.

I really can't agrre with u on this one... I've seen them on TV, and at the looks of it wings, or some kind of parachutes really seems unlikely. They are more or less the only predators on the island, at least the major one (!) so they don't need to get to their prey faster, they do not simply need more speed. And if they did some sort of parachutes are possible, but then they had to climb trees, which ought to be quite difficult with their bodys... And gaining the extra speed is much easier if they grow smaller...

Lucky...I want a Nile Monitor....I'm hoping to get one when I'm done with college....All the Lizards i have caught a really small here in the U.S., but in India, I managed to catch a 3 foot Iguana resting in my Grandfather's Platation....I have also caught many small skinks and a few monitors in India too....A little tree monior got a hold of my finger and wouldn't let go...Of course, I have seen Indian Cobras and Russell Vipers and countless other snakes in India, but I do not dare to go near, even though I know which ones are non-venomous....It the village of Engan, I even might of spotted a King, as I saw a snake with the distinct bands on the back of the "neck". Its safe here in the US, as dangerous snakes are realtively easy to identify...

Good Times....

The Orinoco Caiman is still a behemoth of South America...Reports of 20 ft+ caimans were recorded since 2003, and in 2002, a 19 foot caiman was captured, and documented by Brady Barr...

Iguanas in India???? You should know better than that frogfish, they are a new world species, and I can't imagine it was an escaped pet. Maybe you mean something else they call an "iguana" in India, but I can't imagine what.

Could you ask your teacher where she got her info?

that wolf pic is really scary

yes but they might still evolve i didnt say soon but i said that they might

I was thinking of the way they call them in India...they call the Igunana-lizards....they look very similar to iguanas, and in my language, they are called wona...

They live up in the coconut trees and banana trees