Editing Komodo dragon (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[File:KomodoDragon Skull.jpg|thumb|Skull of a Komodo dragon]]

Komodo dragons were first documented by Europeans in 1910, when rumors of a "land crocodile" reached Lieutenant van Steyn van Hensbroek of the [[Dutch East Indies|Dutch colonial]] administration.<ref name="sciam"/> Widespread notoriety came after 1912, when [[Peter Ouwens]], the director of the [[Zoological Museum of 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.<ref name="Ouwens1912"/>

The first two live Komodo dragons to arrive in Europe were exhibited in the Reptile House at [[London Zoo]] when it opened in 1927.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chalmers Mitchell |first=Peter |date=15 June 1927 |title=Reptiles at the Zoo: Opening of new house today |newspaper=[[The London Times]] |place=London, UK |page=17}}</ref> [[Joan Beauchamp Procter]] made some of the earliest observations of these animals in captivity and she demonstrated their behaviour at a scientific meeting of the [[Zoological Society of London]] in 1928.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Procter |first=J. B. |year=1928 |title=On a living Komodo dragon ''Varanus komodoensis Ouwens'', exhibited at the Scientific Meeting, October 23rd, 1928 |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1928.tb07181.x |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=1017–19|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Komodo dragon was the driving factor for an expedition to [[Komodo (island)|Komodo Island]] by W. Douglas Burden in 1926. After returning with 12&nbsp;preserved specimens and two live ones, this expedition provided the inspiration for the 1933 movie [[King Kong (1933 film)|''King Kong'']].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rony |first=Fatimah Tobing |year=1996 |title=The third eye: Race, cinema, and ethnographic spectacle |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham, N.C. |isbn=978-0-8223-1840-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/thirdeye02rony/page/164 164] |url=https://archive.org/details/thirdeye02rony/page/164 }}</ref> It was also Burden who coined the common name "Komodo dragon".<ref name="gateway-faq">{{cite web |title=Komodo National Park Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Komodo Foundation |url=http://www.komodo-gateway.org/faq1.html |access-date=25 October 2007}}</ref> Three of his specimens were stuffed and are still on display in the [[American Museum of Natural History]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]] |url=http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/Komodo_Dragons/komodo.html?aa |title=American Museum of Natural History: Komodo Dragons |access-date=7 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123040040/http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/Komodo_Dragons/komodo.html?aa |archive-date=23 November 2010 }}</ref>

The Dutch island administration, realizing the limited number of individuals in the wild, soon 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&nbsp;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&nbsp;months in 1969. During their stay, [[Walter Auffenberg]] and his assistant Putra Sastrawan captured and tagged more than 50&nbsp;Komodo dragons.<ref name="nwf">{{cite journal |last=Cheater |first=Mark |date=August–September 2003 |title=Chasing the Magic Dragon |journal=National Wildlife Magazine |volume=41 |issue=5 |url=http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleId=810&issueId=63 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220164644/http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleId=810&issueId=63 |archive-date=20 February 2009}}</ref>

Research from the Auffenberg expedition proved enormously influential in raising Komodo dragons in captivity.<ref name="komo">{{cite book |last1=Walsh |first1=Trooper |last2=Murphy |first2=James Jerome |last3=Ciofi |first3=Claudio |last4=De LA Panouse |first4=Colomba |year=2002 |title=Komodo Dragons: Biology and Conservation |series=Zoo and Aquarium Biology and Conservation Series |publisher=Smithsonian Books |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-58834-073-3}}</ref> Research after that of 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.<ref name="natgeo"/>

===Etymology===
[[File:Komodo coin, Indonesia Dscn0057.jpg|thumb|The Komodo dragon, as depicted on the 50&nbsp;[[Indonesian rupiah|rupiah]] [[Coins of the rupiah|coin]], issued by Indonesia]]
The Komodo dragon is also sometimes known as the '''Komodo monitor''' or the '''Komodo Island monitor''' in scientific literature,<ref name="itis">{{ITIS |id=202168 |taxon=Varanus komodoensis |access-date=19 June 2007}}</ref> although these names are uncommon. To the natives of [[Komodo (island)|Komodo Island]], it is referred to as ''ora'', ''buaya darat'' ('land crocodile'), or ''biawak raksasa'' ('giant monitor').<ref name="amnh">{{cite web |title=Ora (Komodo Island Monitor or Komodo Dragon) |publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]] |url=http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/ora/ora.html |access-date=15 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307164050/http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/ora/ora.html |archive-date=7 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="sciam"/>

===Evolutionary history===
Genetic analysis of [[mitochondrial DNA]] shows the Komodo dragon to be the closest relative ([[sister taxon]]) of the Australian [[lace monitor]] (''V.&nbsp;varius''), with their common ancestor diverging from a lineage that gave rise to the crocodile monitor (''[[Varanus salvadorii]]'') of [[Papua New Guinea|New Guinea]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vidal |first1=N. |last2=Marin |first2=J. |last3=Sassi |first3=J. |last4=Battistuzzi |first4=F.U. |last5=Donnellan |first5=S. |last6=Fitch |first6=A.J. |last7=Fry |first7=BG |last8=Vonk |first8=FJ |last9=Rodriguez de la Vega |first9=R.C. |last10=Couloux |first10=A. |last11=Hedges |first11=S.B. |display-authors=6 |date=2012 |title=Molecular evidence for an Asian origin of monitor lizards followed by Tertiary dispersals to Africa and Australasia |journal=Biology Letters |volume=8 |issue=5 |pages=853–855 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2012.0460 |pmc=3441001 |pmid=22809723|bibcode=2012BiLet...8..853V }}</ref><ref name="fitchetal2006">{{cite journal |vauthors=Fitch AJ, Goodman AE, Donnellan SC |year=2006 |title=A molecular phylogeny of the Australian monitor lizards (''Squamata: Varanidae'') inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences |journal=Australian Journal of Zoology |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=253–269 |doi=10.1071/ZO05038}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Ast |first=Jennifer C. |year=2001 |title=Mitochondrial DNA evidence and evolution in ''Varanoidea'' (''Squamata'') |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/72302/j.1096-0031.2001.tb00118.x.pdf?sequence=1 |journal=Cladistics |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=211–226 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2001.tb00118.x |pmid=34911248 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2027.42/72302|s2cid=53623809 }}; {{cite journal |last=Ast |first=J.C. |title=erratum |journal=Cladistics |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=125 |doi=10.1006/clad.2002.0198|doi-broken-date=20 December 2024 }}</ref> A 2021 study showed that during the late [[Miocene]], the ancestors of Komodo dragons had hybridized with the common ancestor of Australian sand monitors (including ''[[Varanus spenceri|V. spenceri]]'', [[Sand goanna|''V. gouldii'']], [[Varanus rosenbergi|''V. rosenbergi'']] and [[Varanus panoptes|''V. panoptes'']]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pavón-Vázquez |first1=Carlos J. |last2=Brennan |first2=Ian G. |last3=Keogh |first3=J. Scott |year=2021 |title=A Comprehensive Approach to Detect Hybridization Sheds Light on the Evolution of Earth's Largest Lizards |url=https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syaa102/6123761 |journal=Systematic Biology |language=en |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=877–890 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/syaa102 |pmid=33512509}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Study reveals surprising history of world's largest lizard |url=https://phys.org/news/2021-03-reveals-history-world-largest-lizard.html |access-date=6 March 2021 |website=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=3 March 2021 |title=Komodo dragons not only inhabited ancient Australia, but also mated with our sand monitors |url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2021/03/komodo-dragons-not-only-inhabited-ancient-australia-but-also-mated-with-our-sand-monitors/ |access-date=6 March 2021 |website=Australian Geographic |language=en-AU}}</ref>

Fossils from across [[Queensland]] demonstrate that the Komodo dragon was once present in Australia, with fossils spanning from the [[Early Pliocene]] (~3.8 million years ago) to the [[Middle Pleistocene]],<ref name="aust">{{cite journal |vauthors=Hocknull SA, Piper PJ, van den Bergh GD, Due RA, Morwood MJ, Kurniawan I |title=Dragon's Paradise Lost: Palaeobiogeography, Evolution and Extinction of the Largest-Ever Terrestrial Lizards (Varanidae) |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=4 |issue=9 |pages=e7241 |year=2009 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0007241 |pmid=19789642 |pmc=2748693 |bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.7241H |doi-access=free }}</ref> with the youngest confirmed records of the species in Australia dating to at latest 330,000 years ago. In Australia, it coexisted with the even larger monitor species ''[[Varanus priscus]]'' also known as megalania, the largest terrestrial lizard ever.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Price |first1=Gilbert J. |last2=Louys |first2=Julien |last3=Cramb |first3=Jonathan |last4=Feng |first4=Yue-xing |last5=Zhao |first5=Jian-xin |last6=Hocknull |first6=Scott A. |last7=Webb |first7=Gregory E. |last8=Nguyen |first8=Ai Duc |last9=Joannes-Boyau |first9=Renaud |date=October 2015 |title=Temporal overlap of humans and giant lizards (Varanidae; Squamata) in Pleistocene Australia |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379115300809 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=125 |pages=98–105 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.08.013|bibcode=2015QSRv..125...98P }}</ref> The oldest records of the Komodo dragon on Flores date to around 1.4 million years ago, during the [[Early Pleistocene]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van den Bergh |first1=Gerrit D. |last2=Alloway |first2=Brent V. |last3=Storey |first3=Michael |last4=Setiawan |first4=Ruly |last5=Yurnaldi |first5=Dida |last6=Kurniawan |first6=Iwan |last7=Moore |first7=Mark W. |last8=Jatmiko |last9=Brumm |first9=Adam |last10=Flude |first10=Stephanie |last11=Sutikna |first11=Thomas |last12=Setiyabudi |first12=Erick |last13=Prasetyo |first13=Unggul W. |last14=Puspaningrum |first14=Mika R. |last15=Yoga |first15=Ifan |date=October 2022 |title=An integrative geochronological framework for the Pleistocene So'a basin (Flores, Indonesia), and its implications for faunal turnover and hominin arrival |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379122003523 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=294 |pages=107721 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107721|bibcode=2022QSRv..29407721V |hdl=10072/418777 |s2cid=252290750 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Additionally, Pleistocene fossils of ''Varanus'' found in Java and Timor may belong to the Komodo dragon.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Arida, E.|author2=Böhme, W.|year=2010|title=The Origin of Varanus: When Fossils, Morphology, and Molecules Alone Are Never Enough|journal=Biawak|volume=4|issue=4|pages=117–124|s2cid=31297377}}</ref>