World's largest lizard is venomous too.

If you're looking for a new pet, don't even think about a Komodo dragon. These reptiles are the world's largest lizards and can grow to be 10 feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds. (Roughly the weight of two or three eighth-graders.) Komodo dragons run fast and eat almost any kind of meat, including dead animals, other Komodo dragons and people who get too close. "These things are incredible killing machines," says Bryan Fry, a biologist and expert on animal venom.

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If those reasons aren't good enough, consider the bite of a Komodo dragon. According to a new study, it may kill prey like snakes by injecting venom. This chemical, according to Fry and his team of scientists at the University of Melbourne in Australia, can cause shock in the unlucky victim. A person or animal goes into shock when the body cannot deliver enough blood to the organs to keep functioning. As a result, the body starts to shut down.

Scientists have only recently begun to understand why a Komodo dragon is so lethal. Some people used to believe that a Komodo dragon's bite contained bacteria from the mouth that would cause a severe infection in the victim's blood. The infection would eventually kill the animal, but it could take days. Until then, the Komodo dragon would follow the wounded animal.

Fry calls that story a fairy tale. He says that after being bitten by a Komodo dragon, animals usually die quickly. "No one's actually seen a Komodo dragon track a prey for three days until it dies," he says. Plus, he says the Komodo dragon's mouth doesn't contain more bacteria than other animals in the wild.

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To study the giant lizards, Fry and his team used a tool called an MRI, which is often used to study diseases in ...