KOMODO DRAGON PROFILE The Komodo dragon, also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar. A member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae, it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 metres (10 ft) in rare cases and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms (150 lb). They take 8 to 9 years to mature, and are estimated to live up to 30 years.
PAINTED DESERT LIZARDS Lizards typically have feet and external ears, while snakes lack both of these characteristics. However, because they are defined negatively as excluding snakes, lizards have no unique distinguishing characteristic as a group. Lizards and snakes share a movable quadrate bone, distinguishing them from the sphenodonts, which have more primitive and solid diapsid skulls. Many lizards can detach their tails to escape from predators, an act called autotomy. Vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed in most lizards, and most communicate with body language or bright colors on their bodies, as well as with pheromones. Sight is very important for most lizards, both for locating prey and for communication, and, as such, many lizards have highly acute color vision. Most lizards rely heavily on body language, using specific postures, gestures, and movements to define territory, resolve disputes, and entice mates. Some species of lizards also use bright colors, such as the iridescent patches on the belly of Sceloporus. These colors would be highly visible to predators, so are often hidden on the underside or between scales and only revealed when necessary. The particular innovation in this respect is the dewlap, a brightly colored patch of skin on the throat, usually hidden between scales. When a display is needed, a lizard can erect the hyoid bone of its throat, resulting in a large vertical flap of brightly colored skin beneath the head which can be then used for communication. Anoles are particularly famous for this display, with each species having specific colors, including patterns only visible under ultraviolet (UV) light, as many lizards can see UV light. Lizard tails are often a different and dramatically more vivid color than the rest of the body so as to encourage potential predators to strike for the tail first. Many lizard species (including geckos, skinks, and others) are capable of shedding part of their tails through a process called autotomy. This is an example of the pars pro toto principle, sacrificing "a part for the whole", and is employed by lizards to allow them to escape when captured by the tail by a predator. The detached tail writhes and wiggles, creating a deceptive sense of continued struggle, distracting the predator's attention from the fleeing prey animal. The lizard will partially regenerate its tail over a period of weeks.
Frogs are mostly aquatic; most toads live on land (but near water). Frogs have teeth; toads do not. Toads of both sexes have a rudimentary ovary called a bidder's organ. Frogs are also typically longer than toads. Also, frogs have smooth, slimy skin; toads have dry, bumpy skin. The bumps, however, are not warts, and a person cannot get warts from handling a toad. There are about 5,500 known amphibian species, divided into 3 main groups: salamanders, newts, and mudpuppies; caecilians; and frogs and toads. Amphibians are animals that live part of their lives in water and part on land. They are vertebrates and are also ectothermic; they cannot regulate their own body heat, so they depend on sunlight to become warm and active.
