Komodo Dragon

When I got into a cage with a Komodo Dragon almost 10 years ago for a story, I had no idea that its skull was so special. Neither did scientists until now. But a report in the Journal of Anatomy reveals that the world's largest living lizard has a remarkable, space-frame skull. Space frame refers to a light, rigid structure with [interlocking:connecting] struts that can handle big loads. The shape of the skull bones and the arrangement of bones of [different:several] strengths is the [key:board] . The researchers employed a technique called Finite Element Analysis, which is usually used to analyze trains or planes. But in this case, it let them reverse engineer the Komodo to study the [mechanical:chemical] forces that the skull is subject to.As opposed to, say, an alligator, the dragon has a pretty wimpy bite. So rather than clamp down on its victims, it yanks off chunks of meat, a move powered by incredibly strong neck muscles. And made [possible:sure] by that space-frame skull able to handle the huge forces involved. Our March 1999 article on Komodos is available at sciamdigital.com.