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For Decades Science Said the Komodo Dragon Killed With Bacteria-Laden Saliva. In 2009, Researchers Proved It Has Venom Glands. We Were Wrong for 70 Years.

The bacteria story was wrong. The venom was always there.

For most of the 20th century, the accepted explanation for why Komodo Dragon bites caused rapid deterioration and death in prey — even when the animal escaped — was bacterial. The dragon's saliva, it was claimed, harboured uniquely deadly bacteria from consuming rotting meat. Prey that escaped would die of sepsis within days while the dragon tracked it.

The story made sense. It was wrong.

In 2009, Bryan Fry at the University of Melbourne published research in PNAS demonstrating that Komodo Dragons possess venom glands between their teeth — glands that secrete anticoagulant proteins preventing blood clotting at the bite site. When a Komodo bites large prey, venom floods into the wound through grooves between the teeth, inhibiting coagulation and causing rapid blood pressure drop.

The bacteria contributed. The venom was doing the primary work. For 70 years we had the mechanism wrong.

The Komodo Dragon is the largest living lizard — up to 3 metres, 70 kg. It hunts Timor Deer, pigs, goats, and has attacked and occasionally killed humans. It has been doing this with venom that science didn't confirm until 2009.

We were watching the wrong thing the whole time.