Science has found Komodo dragons to have iron coatings on their teeth!
Komodo dragons are the largest living species of lizard in the world, reaching almost ten feet long and weighing up to 300 pounds. Their teeth are serrated and razor-sharp, and their bites carry neurotoxic bacteria and venom. Scientists were surprised to discover that the apex predators of Indonesia have additional weapons in their dental arsenal: iron-coating on the serrations and tips of their already formidable teeth.
"I've looked at thousands of teeth … I've never seen anything like that before," says [Aaron] LeBlanc, lead author of a study published this week in Nature Ecology & Evolution. "I was completely shocked."
LeBlanc did not go looking for iron coatings. Rather, he had hoped to look at predatory lizards in the genus Varanus as analogs for learning more about extinct animals, such as dinosaurs. Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), members of the monitor lizard family, made the most sense to focus on, he says, because they are the world's largest predatory lizards. They're distantly related to dinosaurs, sharing a common ancestor 300 million years ago.
Science
The team then looked at the teeth of smaller monitor lizards, which also had iron-coated serrations but not to the same extent as the Komodo dragons. Examination of the teeth of theropod dinosaurs did not show any iron-coated serrations. However, the fossilization process could obscure the presence of minerals. Iron-pigmented enamel has been seen previously in beavers, shrews, fish, and salamanders. The teeth of the Komodo dragons are unique in that the iron is confined to just the serrations.
Previously: How to care for your Komodo Dragon
