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However, recent research suggests that the large size of komodo dragons
may be better understood as representative of a relict population of
very large varanid lizards that once lived across Indonesia and
Australia, most of which, along with other megafauna, died out after the
Pleistocene. Fossils very similar to V. komodoensis have been found in
Australia dating to greater than 3.8 million years ago, and its body
size remained stable on Flores, one of the handful of Indonesian islands
where it is currently found, over the last 900,000 years, "a time
marked by major faunal turnovers, extinction of the island's megafauna,
and the arrival of early hominids by 880 ka." and scientists believe
they share an ancestry with the cretacious period man eating predator.
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Mating begins between May and August, and the eggs are laid in
September. About twenty eggs are deposited in abandoned megapode nests
or in a self-dug nesting hole. The eggs are 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 about eight to nine years
to mature, and are estimated to live for up to 30 years.
Komodo dragons were first recorded 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.
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