Oct 10th, 2019: Komodo dragons have built-in armor

[Undertoad]

You know these beasts; they're the biggest lizards on the planet, they live on a few Indonesian islands, and they have no predators.

They're vicious carnivores and can kill a wild pig in seconds. They eat their catch by just tearing off large chunks of flesh with their huge powerful jaws.

And now, after modern imaging -- CT scanning -- it's found they have a built-in suit of armor, made of tiny bones.

These bones cover the dragons from head to tail, creating a “chain mail” that protects the giant predators. However, the armor raises a question: What does the world’s largest lizard – the dominant predator in its natural habitat – need protection from?

After scanning Komodo dragon specimens with high-powered X-rays, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin think they have an answer: other Komodo dragons.

That's right, these beasts are such assholes that they need one of nature's more remarkable forms of protection... against themselves.

The adult was well-equipped with armor, but it was completely absent in the baby. It’s a finding that suggests that the bony plates don’t appear until adulthood. And the only thing adult dragons need protection from is other dragons.

And us. Indonesia is limiting the number of tourists to Komodo Island, because the tourists keep stealing the lizards.