Megan Borgen
What kind of species do komodo dragons interact with?
Komodo dragons are extremely predatory. They will eat almost whatever comes in their way. In that way komodo dragons interact a lot with their prey. Komodo dragons have an interesting mutualistic relationship with some bacteria. There are numerous amounts of bacteria in the komodo dragon's mouth; so when the dragon bites onto a prey item, the bacteria are transferred into the new organism. If the prey is able to get away the bacteria are able to kill the creature. The komodo dragon is then able to pick up this scent and find the dead animal and eat it. The dragon gets food out of it and the bacteria get a place to stay and the ability to be transferred from one organism to another.
The komodo dragon's predatory abilities and the bacteria put the dragon high on the food chain. It can acquire it's food on its own, or can have help from the bacteria in its saliva to obtain food.
Other interaction information...
The komodo dragon has the ability (and does utilize it) to kill humans as well. There is a rare species of komodo dragons that have a taste for human blood. There have been cases where komodo dragons will wait in hiding until a human comes by, and it will attack to fulfill it's want of human blood.
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