lizards

One look at this creature and you'll think you've stepped into a scene in Jurassic Park. But this jumbo reptile is alive and well and living in the Indonesian Islands. The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard on Earth -- they can measure up to 10 feet long and weigh as much as 140 pounds. They also have about 60 serrated teeth and have been known to consume up to 80 percent of their body weight in a single meal. That's no garden gecko.

It's long been known that Komodo dragons pack a powerful bite, but a new study by a research team at the University of Melbourne, Australia, shows that the effectiveness of the Komodo's bite comes from a combination of venom and highly specialized serrated teeth. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, the team found that the Komodo dragon has the most complex venom glands ever described for any reptile, and that its giant extinct relative Megalania (Varanus priscus) was the largest venomous animal to have ever lived.

He is greenish brown, has dragon scales for skin, grows up to 32 inches and is the world's last remaining lizard-like reptile that has a lineage dating back to about 225 million years when dinosaurs still roamed the earth—he's a tuatara and he's making a comeback. A species native to New Zealand, the tuatara was spotted nesting in a sanctuary close to Wellington last week, the first such sighting in 200 years. Staff at the 620-acre Karori Wildlife Sanctuary stumbled upon four white, leathery ping-pong sized tuatara eggs during routine maintenance work at the end of last week.