The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) - the largest lizard in the world. It can swallow a whole goat, and it can kill a deer. Not good for Petting Zoo, as Phil Bronstein found out, during his Stone Age. I show you compliant (with FIP CfM) and non-compliant maximum cards from Indonesia

This deer was provided by the Park rangers, for the dragons.

"The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores,Gili Motang and Gili Dasami.^[3] 

A member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae), it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum of length 3 metres (9.8 ft) in rare cases and weighing up to around 70 kilograms (150 lb).^[3]"

Youngsters, respect your elders! They think YOU are very good!

"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.^[3"

Never taunt a Dragon..."Bite me!" 

Its mouth bacteria is virulent - toxic bite!

Newsflash: There will be blood!

"Its saliva is frequently blood-tinged, because its teeth are almost completely covered by gingival tissue that is naturally lacerated during feeding.^[13] 

This creates an ideal culture for the virulent bacteria that live in its mouth.^[14]"

"There's something rotten in" Indonesia...

"Komodo dragons may be able to detect carrion from 4–9.5 kilometres (2.5–6 mi) away.^[13][16]"

Knock, knock!

"Komodo dragons have been observed knocking down large pigs and deer with their strong tail."

How to swallow [a whole goat, that is]: by ramming!

"Komodo dragons eat by tearing large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole while holding the carcass down with their forelegs. 

For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allow it to swallow its prey whole. 

The vegetable contents of the stomach and intestines are typically avoided.^[22] 

Copious amounts of red saliva that the Komodo dragons produce help to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). 

A Komodo dragon may attempt to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully that the tree is knocked down.^[22] 

To prevent itself from suffocating while swallowing, it breathes using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs.^[13]

After eating up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal,^[7] it drags itself to a sunny location to speed digestion, as the food could rot and poison the dragon if left undigested for too long."

Riddle # 1:

A woman has one, maybe two...

No Komodo Dragon has one.

What is it?

.

.

.

.Diaphragm.

"Because the Komodo dragon does not have a diaphragm, it cannot suck water when drinking, nor can it lap water with its tongue. Instead, it drinks by taking a mouthful of water, lifting its head, and letting the water run down its throat."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon

Riddle # 2:

A man has one.

Every male Komodo Dragon has two.

What is it?

.

.

.

Penis.

"Females are antagonistic and resist with their claws and teeth during the early phases of courtship. 

Therefore, the male must fully restrain the female during coitus to avoid being hurt. 

Other courtship displays include males rubbing their chins on the female, hard scratches to the back, and licking.^[37] 

Copulation occurs when the male inserts one of his hemipenes into the female's cloaca.^[16] 

Komodo dragons may be monogamous and form "pair bonds", a rare behavior for lizards."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon

"A hemipenis (plural hemipenes) is one of a pair of intromittent organs of male squamates (snakes, lizards and worm lizards)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemipenes

Parthenogenesis, or "Who needs a male?

I can do bad kids by myself!"

A good man is hard to find.

Or, as actress Mae West said: [the other way around].

"A Komodo dragon at London Zoo named Sungai laid a clutch of eggs in late 2005 after being separated from male company for more than two years. 

Scientists initially assumed that she had been able to store sperm from her earlier encounter with a male, an adaptation known as superfecundation."

DID YOU KNOW?

"Heteropaternal superfecundation is common in animals such as cats and dogs. Stray dogs often produce litters in which every puppy has a different father.

Though rare in humans, many cases have been documented."

"It has been hypothesized that this reproductive adaptation allows a single female to enter an isolated ecological niche (such as an island) and by parthenogenesis produce male offspring, thereby establishing a sexually reproducing population (via reproduction with her offspring that can result in both male and female young).^[44] Despite the advantages of such an adaptation, zoos are cautioned that parthenogenesis may be detrimental to genetic diversity."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon

Not good for Petting Zoo, as Phil Bronstein found out, during his Stone Age.

"Even seemingly docile dragons may become aggressive unpredictably, especially when the animal's territory is invaded by someone unfamiliar. 

In June 2001, a Komodo dragon seriously injured Phil Bronstein—executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle—when he entered its enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo after being invited in by its keeper. 

Bronstein was bitten on his bare foot, as the keeper had told him to take off his white shoes, which could have potentially excited the Komodo dragon.^[62][63] 

Although he escaped, he needed to have several tendons in his foot reattached surgically.^[64]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Bronstein

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Stone

http://www.time.com/time/sampler/article/0,8599,133163,00.html

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Pink background of the Komodo Dragon stamp at the top, remember?

Happy Pink Saturday! (still open on Sunday!)

^{Please visit "Pretty in pink"/ "Show us your pink" [objects, that is :)] meme here:}

^{http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/}

The Geopolitics of Israel: Biblical and Modern, from STRATFOR. Also, a SAXI feline (no, it's not who you think of...): The Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor). World-class maximum cards from my friend "Tangorn" (Israel)

Please read about Israel:
http://app.response.stratfor.com/e/es.aspx?s=1483&e=290046&elq=f0bd9bf94b1c4615915f09dde1dc2c13

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"The Persian leopard (Panthera pardus ciscaucasica) is the largest leopard subspecies, and native to eastern Turkey, the Caucasus mountains, northern Iran, southern Turkmenistan and parts of western Afghanistan. It is endangered throughout its range in the Middle East with fewer than 871-1,290 mature individuals and a declining population trend.^[1]"

^"The Russian explorer Satunin first described the Caucasian leopard P.p. ciscaucasica in 1914 from a specimen in the Kuban region of North Caucasus.^[4] 

In the 1920s, the British zoologist Pocock collected specimens from different areas of Persia and described them as Persian leopard P.p. saxicolor in 1927, though recognizing the similarity to P.p. ciscaucasica.^[5] 

Today, these names are considered synonyms.^[6]"

"The Persian leopard is a flag-ship species. 

Its presence is a sign of the health of the entire ecosystem."

"The leopards are threatened by poaching, depletion of their prey base due to poaching, human disturbance such as presence of military and training of troops in border areas, habitat loss due to deforestation, fire, agricultural expansion, overgrazing, and infrastructure development.^[9]

In Iran, primary threats are habitat disturbances followed by illegal hunting and excess of livestock in the leopard habitats. 

The leopards' chances for survival outside protected areas appear very slim.^[22]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_pardus_saxicolor}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Leopard

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ (wait until Beth posts the today's Linky tool for the meme, then make your entry, if you want to join).

"Don't bear (with) me - I'm not a true bear!" It has a strangely reduced brain, like your least favorite politicians, maybe...The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). Maximum Card from Down Under / Australia

"The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae."

"Although the koala is not a bear, English-speaking settlers from the late 18th century first called it koala bear due to its similarity in appearance to bears. 

Although taxonomically incorrect, the name koala bear is still in use today outside Australia^[5] — its use is discouraged because of the inaccuracy in the name.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} 

Other descriptive English names based on "bear" have included monkey bear, native bear, and tree-bear.^[3]"

Koala doesn't follow the Rule of Thumb.

It has 2 opposable thumbs on each hand!!!

"The koala's five fingers include two opposable thumbs, providing better gripping ability. The first two fingers are positioned in apposition on the front paws, and the first three fingers for the hind paws.^[11]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala}

^{By the way: DID YOU KNOW what The Rule of Thumb means (allegedly)?}

^"In the United States, legal decisions in Mississippi (1824) and North Carolina (1868 and 1874) make reference to—and reject—an unnamed "old doctrine" or "ancient law" by which a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no wider than his thumb.^[2] 

For example, the 1874 case State v. Oliver (North Carolina Reports, Vol. 70, Sec. 60, p. 44) states: "We assume that the old doctrine that a husband had the right to whip his wife, provided that he used a switch no larger than his thumb, is not the law in North Carolina.""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb

Back to Koala.

ATTENTION, POLICE OFFICERS:

"The koala is one of the few mammals (other than primates) that has fingerprints. 

Koala fingerprints are similar to human fingerprints; even with an electron microscope, it can be quite difficult to distinguish between the two.^[12]"

Like SOME politicians...

"The brain in the ancestors of the modern koala once filled the whole cranial cavity, but has become drastically reduced in the present species, a degeneration scientists suspect is an adaptation to a diet low in energy.^[14] 

One of the smallest in marsupials with no more than 0.2% of its body weight,^[15] about 40% of the cranial cavity is filled with cerebrospinal fluid, while the brain's two cerebral hemispheres are like "a pair of shrivelled walnut halves on top of the brain stem, in contact neither with each other nor the bones of the skull. 

It is the only animal on Earth with such a strangely reduced brain."^[16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala

Do you see a heart shape in the above maximum card?

Keyword: headstart...

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http://clytie-randomhearts.blogspot.com/

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