The reading passage contends that Komodo dragons use bacterial load in their saliva to hunt for food and presents several evidences that seem to uphold the claim. However, the lecture disapproves this claim and suggests that they actually used a specialized kind of venom. The points made in the lecture will be elaborated in more detail below.
First of all, the lecture counterpoints the reading passage, which asserts that massive bacterial load in their saliva cause the animals to die based on observation of serious infections around the bites, by mentioning that this assertion is made entirely on visual evidence and not on factual physical evidence. When the researchers brought in the Komodo dragons to the laboratory to investigate their physical features, they realized that they had multiple venom glands in their teeth.
Secondly, while the reading passage maintains that the mouths of Komodo dragons are full of harmful bacteria, the lecture comments that such bacteria is due to a diet of wild specimen. The researchers compared the mouths of captive and wild Komodo dragons and noticed that captive Komodo dragons did not consist of any harmful bacteria while the wild dragons did. This clearly indicates that the harmful bacteria comes from the environment, due to consuming rotten meat.
Last but not least, the reading passage claims that the bacteria allows the dragon to catch much larger prey than their usual diet. However, the lecture refutes this assertion by explaining that the water buffalo actually die due to multiple harmful bacteria contained in the water. The dragons bite down and tear the wound open, which reduces the blood pressure and prevents it from closing. As the buffalo runs away to the water, the bacteria in the water causes the infection in the wound, leading them to death.
The
reading
passage
contends that
Komodo
dragons
use
bacterial load in their saliva to hunt for food and presents several evidences that seem to uphold the claim.
However
, the
lecture
disapproves this claim and suggests that they actually
used
a specialized kind of venom. The points made in the
lecture
will
be elaborated
in more detail below.
First of all
, the
lecture
counterpoints the
reading
passage
, which asserts that massive bacterial load in their saliva cause the animals to
die
based on observation of serious infections around the bites, by mentioning that this assertion
is made
entirely
on visual evidence and not on factual physical evidence. When the researchers brought in the
Komodo
dragons to the laboratory to investigate their physical features, they realized that they had multiple venom glands in their teeth.
Secondly
, while the
reading
passage
maintains that the mouths of
Komodo
dragons are full of
harmful
bacteria, the
lecture
comments that such bacteria is due to a diet of wild specimen. The researchers compared the mouths of captive and wild
Komodo
dragons and noticed that captive
Komodo
dragons did not consist of any
harmful
bacteria while the wild dragons did. This
clearly
indicates that the
harmful
bacteria
comes
from the environment, due to consuming rotten meat.
Last
but
not least, the
reading
passage
claims that the bacteria
allows
the dragon to catch much larger prey than their usual diet.
However
, the
lecture
refutes this assertion by explaining that the
water
buffalo actually
die
due to multiple
harmful
bacteria contained in the
water
. The dragons bite down and tear the wound open, which
reduces
the blood pressure and
prevents
it from closing. As the buffalo runs away to the
water
, the bacteria in the
water
causes the infection in the wound, leading them to death.