Tommy Winn., age 12, of Nashville, Tenn., for his question:

How did the Komodo dragon get its name?

The Pacific islands of Indonesia are south of the Philippines. From the sizeable islands of Sumatra and Java in the west, a necklace of small isles loops eastward towards New Guinea. One of these island, jewels is Komodo. In 1912, the world of science was startled to learn that a ten foot lizard made his home on this island. He was named the Komodo dragon.

Later, it was discovered that these big lizards also live on the necklace islands of Flores, Rintja and Padar. The natives of these islands had known about them for centuries, but the original English name of Komodo dragon has not been changed.