This Dragon Doesn't Breathe Fire... Quiz

Answer: Yes

Komodo dragons mainly eat insects, snakes, birds, monkeys and hoofed animals - and even each other! - but they have also been known to kill and eat the odd human. For instance, a hungry Komodo dragon killed an eight-year-old boy in 2007, and two Komodo dragons mauled a man to death in 2009. On the island of Komodo, some locals have had to bury human corpses in clay and cover the graves with stones to protect them from being dug up and eaten by the dragons.

Answer: Land crocodile

Another name for the Komodo dragon is 'biawak raksasa', or 'giant monitor'. This is more apt for the Komodo dragon, as it is part of the Varanidae family, which includes the monitor lizards.

Answer: Its tongue

The Komodo dragon has a long forked tongue, which it uses to 'taste' the air. When it draws the tongue back in, the tips of the tongue come into contact with the Jacobson's organs on the roof of its mouth which detect sensory stimuli. The Komodo dragon can determine what direction the prey is heading by which tip has the stronger scent (the left or the right).

Answer: 10 feet

In metric, that's approximately three metres long. The biggest Komodo dragon found in the wild was 3.13m (10ft 3 inches) long and weighed 166kg (366lb), taking into account the undigested food in its stomach.

Answer: September

Female Komodo dragons lay their eggs in September, after a mating period which takes place between May and August. Seven to eight months later, the eggs hatch in the spring when there are plenty of insects for them to eat.

Answer: Parthenogenesis

The term 'parthenogenesis' comes from the Greek for 'virgin birth', and is a form of asexual reproduction. It also occurs in plants, insects and reptiles.

Although Komodo dragons do mate like your average animal, females can lay eggs via parthenogenesis; for instance, Flora, an eight-year-old female in captivity at Chester Zoo, laid eggs in 2006, despite never having had contact with a male of the species. Seven baby male dragons were the result.

Answer: Abandoned megapode nests

As abandoned megapode nests are on the ground, they're a handy place for the females of the species to lay their eggs. In order to prevent their entire brood from being killed and eaten at once, the female Komodo dragons lay their eggs in a number of different nests. After the young Komodo dragons hatch, they live in trees in order to avoid being preyed on by adults.

Megapodes, incidentally, are so-called because of their large feet, and are also known as 'incubator birds', as they bury their eggs.

Answer: No

If you're expecting a quality product made of Komodo dragon skin, you're going to be disappointed, as Komodo dragon skin is actually pretty rubbish when it comes to making handbags. When dried out, the skin cracks and breaks. Trade of Komodo dragon skins is banned under CITES.

The animals are still in danger due to human activity, however - not just poaching, but also tourism, poaching of their prey (such as deer), and deforestation resulting in habitat loss.

Answer: It speeds up their metabolisms and aids digestion

Like many other reptiles, Komodo dragons have very slow metabolisms and can survive on as few as twelve meals a year. They sun themselves after eating in order to speed up the digestion of their food, as otherwise the food will rot in their stomachs and become poisonous.

After digestion, the Komodo dragon vomits up a gastric pellet made up of indigestible body parts, such as horns and teeth.

Answer: Yes

The Komodo dragon is one of three poisonous types of lizard, the others being the Gila monster and the Mexican beaded lizard. Its venom is similar to that of a snake, in that it causes muscle paralysis and shock and prevents blood from clotting, and comes out of two glands in the lizard's lower jaw.