While direct bite-inflicted injury is the most commonly observed mechanism for Komodo dragons to dispatch prey, the role of bacteria in aiding prey death is poorly known. One study identified in the lizards' saliva and oral cavities 58 species of bacteria 93 percent of which are classified as potentially pathogenic. Auffenberg proposed that the bacteria are beneficial to the lizards in essence a slow-acting venom that facilitate prey capture by attacking lizards. He offered no mechanism by which the bacteria are acquired by lizards, however. Fry et al. questioned this interpretation, and proposed that sepsis-inducing bacteria are more plausibly acquired passively from prey and other environmental sources, with no role in prey acquisition. That model fits the observation that captive lizards (and presumably newborns) lack sepsis-inducing bacteria.