There are over 3,000 lizard species, but the Komodo dragon wins the prize for being the largest living lizard in the world! It is a type of monitor lizard, an ancient species of reptile with ancestors that date back more than 100 million years. Komodo dragons were unknown by western scientists until 1912, and their common name came from rumors of a large dragon-like lizard occurring in the Lesser Sunda Islands. Indeed the yellow color of the Komodo dragon’s long, forked tongue reminds people of mythical dragons that spit fire!