Sex Dragon Style
Komodo dragons mate between May and August. They briefly couple up around feeding sites because it is convenient. Male komodo dragons outnumber females four to one, so competition among the males is fierce. It can involve biting, slashing, and bipedular rearing onto the tail. Once the dominant male vanquishes the now submissive competitors, he approaches the female. He will try to stimulate her by flicking her body with his tongue, paying particular attention to the fold between her torso and rear leg close to the cloaca, where her genitalia are located. The male reproductive organs, the hemipenes, are also held inside the cloaca, inverted. Glands located in the skin produce secretions that aid the stimulation. The pair nudge snouts, rub chins, bite necks and scratch one another.
Once prone, the male mounts the female and inserts one of his hemipenes into her cloaca. Which one depends on which side he is perched. They mate briefly. In September, the female will bury a clutch of 15-30 eggs in the composting vegetative mounds of birds or a similar place. |