Komodo Dragon Facts

Komodo Dragon Facts The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest lizard on the face of the Earth today. An ancient species of reptile, it first appeared on the planet more than 100 million years ago- though it was not known to Western science until 1912. Prior to that time, it was known in the West only through rumors of dragon-like lizard living in the Lesser Sunda Islands of the Pacific. Fast Facts: Komodo Dragon Scientific Name: Varanus komodoensisCommon Name(s): Komodo dragon, Komodo monitorBasic Animal Group:  ReptileSize:  6 to 10 feet  Weight: 150–360 poundsLifespan: Up to 30 years  Diet:  CarnivoreHabitat:  Specific Indonesian islandsConservation  Status:  Vulnerable   Description Full-grown Komodo dragons typically grow to six to 10 feet and can weigh 150 pounds- though individual specimens can be as heavy as 350 pounds. They are dull brown, dark grey, or reddish in color, while juveniles are green with yellow and black stripes. Komodo dragons are massive and powerful-looking with bowed legs and muscular tails. Their heads are long and flat, and their snouts are rounded. Their scaly skin is usually a combination of sand-color and gray, providing good camouflage. When in motion, they roll back and forth; at the same time, their yellow tongues flick in and out of their mouths. Jamie Lamb - elusive-images.co.uk/Getty Images Habitat and Distribution Komodo dragons have the smallest home range of any large predator: They live on certain small Indonesian islands of the Lesser Sunda group, including Rintja, Padar, Gila Motang, and Flores, and Komodo, in habitats ranging from beaches to forests to ridge tops. Diet and Behavior Komodo  dragons will eat almost any kind of meat, including both live animals and carrion. Smaller, younger dragons eat small lizards, snakes, and birds, while adults prefer monkeys, goats, and deer. They are also cannibalistic. These lizards are the apex predators of their Indonesian island ecosystems; they occasionally capture live prey by hiding in vegetation and ambushing their victims, although they usually prefer to scavenge already-dead animals. (In fact, the giant size of the Komodo dragon can be explained by its island ecosystem: Like the  long-extinct Dodo Bird, this lizard has no natural predators.) Komodo dragons have good vision and adequate hearing, but rely mostly on their acute sense of smell to detect potential prey; these lizards are also equipped with long, yellow, deeply-forked tongues and sharp serrated teeth, and their rounded snouts, strong limbs, and muscular tails also come in handy when targeting their dinner (Not to mention when dealing with others of their own kind: When Komodo dragons encounter one another in the wild, the dominant individual, usually the largest male, prevails.) Hungry Komodo dragons have been known to run at speeds topping 10 miles per hour, at least for short stretches, making them some of the fastest lizards on the planet. Mi. Sha/Getty Images Reproduction and Offspring The Komodo dragon mating season spans the months of July and August. In September, the females dig egg chambers, in which they lay clutches of up to 30 eggs. The mom-to-be covers her eggs with leaves and then lies over the nest to warm the eggs until they hatch, which requires an unusually long gestation period of seven or eight months. The newborn hatchlings are vulnerable to predation by birds, mammals, and even adult Komodo dragons; for this reason the young scamper up into trees, where an arboreal lifestyle provides them refuge from their natural enemies until they are large enough to defend themselves. Conservation Status Komodo dragons are listed as Vulnerable.  According to the San Diego Zoos website: One study estimated the population of Komodo dragons within Komodo National Park to be 2,405. Another study estimated between 3,000 and 3,100 individuals. On the much larger island of Flores, which is outside the National Park, the number of dragons has been estimated from 300 to 500 animals. While the population is more or less stable, Komodo habitat is continuing to shrink due to increasing human encroachment. Komodo Dragon Venom There has been some controversy about the presence of venom, or the lack of it, in the Komodo dragons saliva. In 2005, researchers in Australia suggested that Komodo dragons (and other monitor lizards) have mildly venomous bites, which can result in swelling, shooting pains, and disruption of blood clotting, at least in human victims; however, this theory has yet to be widely accepted. Theres also the possibility that the saliva of Komodo dragons transmits harmful bacteria, which would breed on the rotting bits of flesh wedged between this reptiles teeth. This wouldnt make the Komodo dragon anything special, though; for decades there has been speculation about the septic bites inflicted by meat-eating dinosaurs! Sources â€Å"Komodo Dragon.†Ã‚  National Geographic, 24 Sept. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/k/komodo-dragon/.â€Å"Komodo Dragon.†Ã‚  San Diego Zoo Global Animals and Plants, animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/komodo-dragon.â€Å"Komodo Dragon.†Ã‚  Smithsonians National Zoo, 9 July 2018, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/komodo-dragon.

Horde, Trooper, and Towards

Horde, Trooper, and Towards Horde, Trooper, and Towards Horde, Trooper, and Towards By Maeve Maddox Some usage errors are so widespread that readers begin to wonder if they’re mistaken about the correct form. horde/hoard A reader came across the phrase â€Å"hoards of databases† used to mean â€Å"many databases.† He thought the usage was incorrect, but as the usage was printed in â€Å"a best selling book from quite a famous publisher,† he doubted his own judgment: â€Å"My question is: is the incorrect usage becoming acceptable nowadays?† No, horde and hoard still have different meanings. The context calls for â€Å"hordes of databases† because the meaning is â€Å"a vast number.† The earliest use of horde was to refer to a large number of tribal people, but now it is used to refer to things as well as people. The noun spelled hoard means â€Å"an accumulation of something of value that has been hidden or put aside until wanted.† In early use, hoard meant anything hidden, like treasure. Beowulf’s dragon sleeps on a hoard. See â€Å"Hordes of People Shouldn’t Hoard.† trooper/trouper Another reader questions the following headline in her local newspaper: Three-year-old Martinsburg girl battling leukemia a real trooper Asks the reader, Shouldn’t that be ‘trouper’? Yes, it should. A troupe is a performing group, like a ballet troupe or an acting troupe. The word trooper refers to military or paramilitary personnel. Although one does expect troopers to be tough and hardworking, trouper is the word that is used with the meaning â€Å"a brave, hardworking, persistent, dedicated person.† See †Trooper or Trouper?† toward/towards Finally, a reader is puzzled by an interview with an American speaker who was present when the bombs went off at the 2013 Boston Marathon: He keeps saying towards, for example, â€Å"Several people have asked me why I ran towards the smoke.† The usual take on the difference between toward and towards is that toward is American usage and towards is British usage. Fowler called towards the preferred usage and toward either â€Å"literary or provincial.† I usually write towards, but dutifully remove the s when revising. I suspect that other American speakers do also. The American AP Stylebook states flatly, â€Å"toward: not towards.† The Chicago Manual of Style adds a note about other directional words: The same is true for other directional words, such as upward, downward, forward, and backward, as well as afterward. The use of afterwards and backwards as adverbs is neither rare nor incorrect. But for the sake of consistency, it is better to stay with the simpler form. If you are writing for an American publication, go with toward. See †Running Toward the House or Towards the House?† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Computer Terms You Should Know75 Synonyms for â€Å"Talk†Mankind vs. Humankind

Compare and contrast disparate treatment and disparate impact Essay

Compare and contrast disparate treatment and disparate impact - Essay Example In all disparate treatment cases, â€Å"whether the issue is the truth or falsity of the employer's reason for its action, or the co-existence of legitimate and illegitimate motives, whether the plaintiff puts on direct or circumstantial evidence, or both, the issue at the liability stage is simply whether the plaintiff has shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that discrimination was a motivating factor in the employment decision.† (Drachsler, 2005, p.230) The Civil Rights Act of 1991, further extended these provisions and consolidated the list of prohibitions. But the application of Disparate Treatment theory to any given case is never straight-forward, for management decisions are based upon so many factors, with prejudice and discrimination (if any) often playing out in subtle and indirect ways. Judge Magnuson elaborated on 1991 amendments thus: â€Å"Absent from the statute is the requirement that discrimination be a "substantial" factor, a "but-for" factor, or the necessary and sufficient cause of the employment decision. Instead, Congress unambiguously required that discrimination be "a" motivating factor in the employment decision.

SYSTEMS AND DATABASES - COURSEWORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SYSTEMS AND DATABASES - COURSEWORK - Essay Example Solution: A database solution would ensure better storage, addition, modification and deletion of resident records so that bed allocation is handled better. Bed allocation would not only help the care manager but also the placement officer to know the affordable rates for the beds for fund approval process. Databases namely Oracle or MySql server can be used for storing and retrieving the records of beds and residents. Problem definition: The nurse records are not well maintained for immediate allocation and is very difficult to know the availability of the nurses for resident allocation and assignment. Even their weekly payment hours are sometimes faulty. Solution: A database system with alerts (triggers) would be largely helpful in knowing the reorder level for nurse’s availability and their filling up with buffers so that patients are taken care and attended at all times. Solution: An information system should be well connected with the pharmacist who would ensure better and timely delivery of drugs for use by the home. Again the proposal for an interconnected system like that of ERP is most useful in such cases. It would not only manage the various elements but would also reduce their operation cycle time in terms of effort and time taken by the various actors like the care manager, nursing manager and others to accomplish a task. As the hospital demands quick and timely action to keep up with the patient’s medical demands, an ERP system would ensure effective data transfer and reduce their lead times (Ballou, 2002). Solution: The updation of records are essentially required for fetching the exact state of the patients at all times. The system must reflect that at every point of time as to the status of the patient. A database solution would ensure better management of the home and ensure a reflection of the

My Depression Essay Example for Free

My Depression Essay Growing up in a small town wasnt always easy for me. I felt that I was constantly hiding and denying the person that I was and the life that I lived. I was forced to be someone that I really wasnt due to the fact that I had a family secret that I was withholding in order to protect the well-known, family name, Hutcherson. In highschool, no one but family members and close friends knew that I lived with an alcoholic father. As a child I was always taught to keep our family life secret and never let people know the struggles that our family faced. People always thought that I had the best of everything because of the material possessions I accumulated from my dad. They assumed that because our family had money, we were problem free and oh, how wrong they were! It was until my senior year at Halls High School that I kept leading people on to believe a lie. I finally got tired of feeling as though I was two different people with two different lives. After attending counseling for several months, because of the depression that had taken a tole on me, my psychiatrist helped me to realize that it wasnt my fault that my father has this addiction. I soon figured out that there was no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed for things that I had no control over. If people liked me, they should like me for the real me, not who I had been pretending to be. I learned to deal with my fathers alcohol problem by acknowledging the stages of the grieving process. Dr. Bell taught me that in order to make peace with the hardships in my life, I had to overcome each of the five processes; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Denial was the first, and probably the hardest stage of the grieving process. It seemed as if denial overwelhmed my entire life, even from childhood. It was hard, at times, to admit that living with an alcoholic parent was a part of my life. I didnt want to accept the fact that this was a definite part of who I really was. I was ashamed and humiliated. I remember being embarrassed to tell Dr. Bell the whole truth. I also felt like by doing so, I was dishonoring my family and degrading my father. However, after I came to terms with the truth that I had been denying for so long, I felt like a ton of bricks were lifted from me. The second stage of the grieving process is anger. I can remember being so mad at Dad for putting our family through this. There were times that I hated him and wished that something bad would happen to him, just so I could go back to the life I was accustomed to living, that of lies. I blamed my mother for staying with him and giving us children no choice as to what we wanted. I envied her just about as much as I envied him. I know now, that even though she wasnt happy, she was doing what she felt she had to do, and that was support him 100%. I no longer look at this situation as something to be angry at. I see my father now, as a sick man and not one that intentionally has this horrible addiction to hurt the ones he loves. There were times that I remember bargaining with God, asking him to please take this away. I would pray at night that if he would just heal my father, I would be willing to do whatever it took to show appreciation. I would make deals with my father, Dad, if you dont drink for two weeks, I will mow the lawn for free. It was things like this that would sometimes be the only thing that gave me hope. At times, the things that I would say to my father would work, only because of the quilt that he felt, but it wouldnt be long and he would be back in the same boat he had been in for many years drinking, uncontrolably. The forth stage is depression. I have to say that this is the hardest thing I have ever faced (and still facing) in my life. Looking back now, I remember the thing that depressed me the most was thinking that things were getting better and then being disappointed again. There were times that Dad would stop drinking, sometimes weeks at a time. Though I always knew in my heart that it wasnt going to last long, I still had hope that that particular time could be different.

Creationism - The Theory of Evolution is not Logical Essay -- Biblical

Creationism - The Theory of Evolution is not Logical Genesis 1:1â€Å"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.† This quote, taken from the Hebrew Bible describes the belief that religious Jews and Christians follow. These two religions think that man, the earth, and the rest of the universe were originally created instead of the theory of evolution. This view on the origin of the earth is unique, because it was the first religion to practice monotheism (belief in one God), and that God alone created the universe. Contrary to African and Hindu theories, Jews and Christians believe that the world was created by one higher power. As explained in the Bible, God worked for six days. During these six days God created the entire universe. On day one, the planet Earth was formed ...

Destiny in Romeo and Juliet Essay

Shakespeare refers to Romeo and Juliet as â€Å"star-crossed lovers.† We can not deny the fact that they are ‘destined to be together,’ it is just something that the reader must accept. Fate is inevitable throughout the whole play; Shakespeare never gives readers an explanation as to why there is a feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, it is rather an undeniable aspect of the world of the play. The events surrounding the love affair of Romeo and Juliet are not merely coincidences, but rather all elements that will bring out the unavoidable outcome of the young lovers’ deaths. When fate begins to work its magic, the events of the play and the work of Shakespeare begins to unravel itself. The only reason Romeo decides to attend the Capulet’s ball is entirely in the hands of destiny. By chance, a young knave of the Capulet’s, who could not read himself, had asked Romeo to read an invitation list for the ball. Young Romeo was hopelessly I love with Rosaline at this time, and he attended the party only in hopes of seeing her. However, at the ball, Romeo falls in love with fair Juliet the moment he lays eyes on her. We can easily say that Romeo and Juliet were ’destined’ to meet and fall in love. After meeting Romeo that night, Juliet is talking to her nurse; ridiculously desperate and dramatic. She has not known man for more than three hours, yet she is hinting that she will die if she does not marry him; as given when she says, â€Å"If he be married my grave be my wedding bed.† Acts I and II will appear completely ironic to those who know of the events yet to come. Juliet continues to talk about how their love will kill him, â€Å"Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing,† this being one of the most ironic of quotes, as it turns out that their love is the actual cause of their deaths. Act III’s fighting scene is a crucial turning point in Romeo and Juliet. In the Elizabethan era, it was not unusual to find men fighting in the streets. Commonly, the culpable side would be sentenced to death or as Romeo believes worse, declared banished. The battle between Mercutio and Tybalt begins in the hot streets of Verona. Mercutio is killed, but before he dies he curses both families, â€Å"A plague o both your houses.† What he is trying to express, is that he wishes both families would just settle their hostile feud. Once Romeo realizes what has happened he seeks revenge and kills Tybalt. He then recognizes what he has done and what effect it will have on him, â€Å"I am fortune’s fool,† he acknowledges the fact that nothing will ever be the same again, â€Å"The day’s black fate on moe days doth depend, this but begins the woe others must end.† Romeo is banished. We are left wondering whether or not Romeo and Juliet would have stayed together if it had not been for Romeo acting upon anger and killing Tybalt. Romeo and Juliet is a drama that overflows with the best works of fate, and the characters seem to know it. Romeo refuses to accept what destiny has dealt him, â€Å"I defy you stars,† and Juliet constantly tempts her own fate, â€Å"Give me Romeo and when I shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars.† I believe the reason many people still enjoy this play is because of the passion the young lovers have for each other. They both recognize they can’t be together in life, so they come together in death. Romeo and Juliet remains one of William Shakespeare’s best pieces, about two â€Å"star-crossed lovers† whose lives were driven by fate.