GENERAL
DRAGON ART
SPECIFIC DRAGONS
DRAGON PRODUCTS
OTHER
OUTSIDE OF THE BODY
The dragon can be a huge creature depending on the breed. The one shown here is roughly 20 feet long with a wingspan of 35 feet. This type of dragon has extremely small ears, large eyes, spines down its back, and a bone-type spade at the end of its tail. All dragon breeds are different. Some have long ears, and no spade, and some have a fleshy-type triangle-shaped spade. This type of dragon also does not have scales, it has tough leathery skin. Most dragons have scales of some sort.
Take a look at the Western Dragon Body by clicking on the picture below! (size=256K)
SCALES
Scales (and horns/claws) on a dragon are densely packed cells made up of keratin, a tough fibrous protein. When born, a dragon's scales are as soft as tissue paper, and slowly harden while the dragon grows. The iron from the blood, or vegetable matter the dragon eats is absorbed by the dragon's blood stream and mixed with the keratin to create steel-hard scales. The process of getting scales as tough as they can get takes about one year after being hatched.
COLOR
Scale color is determand by the genes of the parent dragons. Usually only red dragons will mate with other red dragons, etc. But if a mating took place between a gold and a green dragon, the result might be a bronze colored offspring. Scales on a dragon are never simply one shade of color. If a dragon is blue, there will be many, many shades of blue. Light, medium, dark, blue-black, etc. Scales are bright and shiny in a healthy dragon, but dull and muted if a dragon is ill.
CAMOUFLAGE
In some breeds of dragons when the dragon is mature, the cells in the scales are able to change color such as a chameleon due to chromatophore, the pigment cells in the scales.This reaction can be caused by emotion (anger, happiness,etc) or by the will of the dragon to change color. If the dragon is angered it can change from its original color to a bright, fierce color such as red, to look more intimidating or during mating rituals, it can flow certain color patterns on its body to attract other dragons. Since dragons are extremely intelligent, it can choose which colors to change into to match the exact background it is near including subtle shadow and highlights. It is so good at this, most things would just walk past a 65 foot dragon hiding in the sand.
THE WING
The wing. The part of the dragon that distinguishes itself from all other creatures.
The dragon wing is a huge, leathery appendage that is found on several different
species of dragon. The wing is usually larger than the dragon's body to accommodate
the incredible force needed to lift and maintain flight.
BONES
The wing is essentially another arm and hand. If you look at the skeleton of
a dragon front arm and claws, you will notice that the wing is just a very stretched
out version. The two thick "arm bones" (humerus and wing radius) runs from the
body of the dragon attaching itself with cartilage and muscle to an "elbow"
of the wing. There are usually 4 or 5 elongated "fingers" on a wing each ending
in a claw. One short "thumb" claw is at the "wrist". The "fingers" then attach
themselves to the "wrist joints" to form the complete wing.
HOW DO THEY FLY?
Thanks to Windseeker
for the flying dragon animation
The actual force of flight is the continuous down sweep of powerful wings scooping,
and thrusting the body upwards. An immature dragon does not have the strength
needed for a vertical jump from flat ground to take off. They will usually stay
near higher cliffs to use the heat updrafts to keep aloft. It takes a few years
of flying to build the extremely strong flight muscles needed to lift the dragon
body from the ground. The wings make actually look small for the mass of the
dragon, but all dragons have an innate magic ability to help them fly. This
magic helps keep dragons from straining themselves during long flights.
WEAPONS
Dragons can also use their wings as an attack weapon if need be, but this is
a last resort. The wing membranes are easily damaged compared to the rest of
a dragon body. If a dragon wing membrane is slashed, it takes a very long time
to heal, and there is a chance the dragon might never fly again if it does not
heal correctly. If attacked on the ground, the dragon will usually run then
jump in the air and fly off avoiding the attacker. But if the dragon is trapped
on the ground it will tuck its wings tightly against its body and use its breath
weapon and claws to protect itself. If the dragon has to use its wings to attack
it will scoop down and slash with its razor sharp wing claws to immobilize the
attacker.
SENSES
Dragons have the same senses as humans; sight, hearing, smelling, touch, and
taste. But some have a six sense which is being able to "read" the emotion of
another being. Their regular five senses are incredibly sensitive. For example,
the sense of smell is about 100 times more sensitive than a bloodhound dog.
They can smell and hear a person or animal from a couple miles away!
Their six sense is very accurate at close range. If a person or animal is feeling
a strong emotion, such as fear or hate, it will register very strongly to the
dragon, even if it is not in visual range of it. This is where dragonfear
comes from. Dragonfear is an all encompassing, frozen-in-place fear that the
dragon causes upon the animal or person seeing a dragon. The dragons sometimes
use this advantage to beat its foes, such as thieves or knights. Only the very
bravest (or very dim-witted) are not affected by this terrible fear. This is
usually an aura around evil-minded dragons, but in a friendly dragon, such as
the Faerie Dragon, this aura is non-existant.
THE FIRE BREATHERS!
Fire: the thing that makes the dragon most feared. It's a hellish belch of flame
that can turn flesh and bone into ash. Though, not all dragons breath fire.
Some have freezing cold breath, others have acid, and some don't use their breath
as a weapon at all! The two that have fire breathing power are the Red Dragon
and Fire Drake.
HOW DO THEY BREATH FIRE?
It all starts when the dragon catch their prey. When dragons eat, they digest
the food in a regular stomach. The digestion then continues in a second stomach
that breaks down the food even further. After the dragon's body has used all
it can from the second digestion, the body then turns the leftover food and
acid into a byproduct of hydrogen. The dragon can hold the hydrogen in various
large glands in it's body for later use, and can call upon it at any time it
needs to. When the dragon needs to belch it's flame, the glands release the
hydrogen into the lungs where it mixes with other various chemicals the body
creates. Once this mixture finds oxygen, it burns extremely hot, and very quick.
The dragon usually has enough hydrogen in its body for about three spits of
flame, but that should be plenty for anything coming up against a large red
dragon. This explanation is about the same for dragons that breath other types
of breath. Their bodies just break down food into different compounds. For another
explanation of firebreathing, please read this explanation
by Firefenix.
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All images and content are copyright © 1996-2021 Draconian.comWhat do we mean by ‘dragon anatomy’, and why should you be interested?
Well, dragons are more than just giant beasts, they’re top-of-the-chains predators. Packing massive power and extremely sharp senses, the flying monsters certainly spark the interest of tons of people urging to know more about the anatomy and physiology of these awesome creatures. So if you’re one of us dragon-enthusiasts, get ready for one heck of a journey!
Dragons are warm-blooded animals, also known as homeothermic, belonging to the reptile family. Their body temperature is regulated internally, with the ability to adapt to various climate conditions. They have unmistakable wings, hence the flying. Dragons don’t depend on the sun’s warmth, so they have no problems being active day or night.
What you need to know upfront, is that dragon bones are super tough, harder than concrete, yet very lightweight as they’re hollow to ensure lightness. This is to allow such a bulky reptile to stay suspended in the air.
They have large skulls and long necks resting on broad shoulders where large wings extend out. Their legs are thick with claws and their bodies end at a strong tail.
A dragon’s jaw is capable of dislocating to hold bigger objects and accommodates, not one, but two types of teeth. This is because dragons are omnivores, so they need incisors and canines to slice through food, as well as molars to chew and grind. But, what do dragons eat?
The muscle mass on a dragon, naturally, has to be quite extensive to support the weight of the flying mechanism. Wings themselves don’t contain any significant muscles, as they’re mainly controlled by ones close to the chest region.
Other than that, major muscles are located on their legs and “arms” to let them swiftly charge their sizeable structures. One thing to note though is that dragons can’t run, those muscles just weren’t built for it. This doesn’t keep them from normal speed walking, it just means they can’t muster a high-speed sprint on the ground.
One of the most fascinating parts of dragon anatomy is the magnificent wings. To put it simply, I want you to imagine an ordinary animal arm with fingers. Now picture its two big bones elongated (the humerus and radius) with really lengthy fingers. That’s essentially the structure of a dragon’s wing.
It’s all wrapped in some kind of a leathery membrane, similar to what you can see on a bat. The two thick bones we just mentioned run from the body of a dragon connected to the elbow via muscles and cartilages. The five fingers stretch out into pointy claws at the tips. One thumb is usually shorter, which you can be considered as a wrist, where the rest of the fingers meet forming the wing shape.
Right now, we arrive at the debate we need to settle; where do the wings connect to the dragon’s body. Is it near the shoulders? Or close to the thighs? Perhaps mid-back?
Well, let’s break down the possibilities. If the wings were connected at the top of the back near the shoulders, the dragon will have to fly taking a vertical position (heads up, tails down), which still counts but would be seriously slower with far less agility. This also means that the attachment itself is of a small area, rendering flying and gliding difficult to maintain especially with the rear flopping down. But, it’s acceptable if the dragon is only hovering.
The second position, a bit more probable, is when the wings connect below the chest, kind of mid-back. It doesn’t propose real disadvantages, however, it’s not the best. The third, and the most likely, alignment is where the wings attach at the bottom near the thighs. This way gives the widest surface area for the wings to spread out comfortably, taking advantage of the balance between the dragon’s long neck from one side and its tail from the other. It also gives full flight control, to quickly lose or gain attitude.
Now, it’s time to talk flying. How do dragons do it? Well, it’s all thanks to the motion of the wing. The constant up and down flap of the wings with a scooping style followed by an upward body thrust is how the magic happens. This, of course, requires a lot of strength to even make the vertical jump needed for takeoff, something immature dragons are incapable of doing, which is why they tend to use the air drafts at high cliffs to initiate flight.
A dragon’s entire body is covered with solid structures called scales, with the exception of a few soft parts such as the belly and neck. Scales are made of hardened keratin, the same fibrous protein making up our human nails, and take a pentagonal teardrop-like shape.
Dragons aren’t born with such tough scales, in fact, baby dragons have scales as soft as tissue papers that build up their hardness as the dragon grows. This process is quite fascinating too, where the iron from the blood or the plant material consumed by the dragon gets absorbed into the bloodstream and coupled with the keratin, creating rock-solid scales. The time span of such progress till the scales reach maximum hardness is about one year after hatching.
The five sides of a scale aren’t of equal lengths, there are two long sides, two short ones, and one much smaller fixed tightly to the skin. Dragons have the ability to make their scales preen and stand on end voluntarily, this also helps in staying hygienic as dragons are highly clean creatures. Normally, the scales are relaxed and overlap perfectly over each other, with a comfortable fit to allow free movement.
The color of a dragon is a result of its scales colors determined by the genes of its parents. They are never a single uniform color, but rather a gradient of shades with a metallic luster. We can’t really put them into definite names, however, they generally fall into three categories; blues, reds, and greens. It’s typical for dragons of the same color family to mate, but that’s not always the case. A healthy dragon would have shiny bright scales, whereas an ill one would have them dull and muted.
Generally speaking, the eyes of a dragon are round with a vertical slit similar to serpents. The iris, which is the colored part surrounding the slit pupil, has tiny muscles to control how big or small the pupil opens. This size adjustment determines the intensity of light peering through the eye. Reducing the pupil into a very thin slit instead of a small circle gives further control of how much light is entering, particularly useful under the bright sun.
Another advantage is that the vertical slit is accompanied by a horizontal lid, so when a dragon closes them, they’re at a right angle to each other which means exceptional dimming of the light.
Theories about dragons having eyes with mosaic lenses, like insects, aren’t quite right. If you think about it, you’ll find the near-sight quality such an eye type provides, is only suitable for really small animals, like insects (how shocking), who need the extra magnification of their close surroundings rather than object far away. This would be so lousy for dragons, who are pretty large creatures, as they won’t be able to see clearly enough to even hunt for instance.
As noble sensible creatures, dragons do urge to find life partners to start a family with. They’re not savages either, at least when it comes to mating, as they do work for it!
First with attraction, the female and male, equally, search for traits they feel appealing. Male dragons look for beauty, actually translated into the best physical ability to carry and nourish their offspring. Females seek dragons capable of protection and providing. Once found, courtship rituals begin! Some require dancing or acts of bravery, others require certain callings. They could last for days or weeks, but eventually, things work out.
Dragons consummate their union sexually, like all superior animal classes. However, out of their love for thrill and speed, they do it in the air. The mating process, namely the dragon-slide, happens as both partners fly high into the sky, get impossibly close in a tight grab, close their wings and free-fall together. This goes on until they reach about a hundred feet from the ground at which they spread their wings and land. A literal one of a kind experience if you ask me.
Out of such intensity, comes multiple fertilized eggs that grow inside the mother. After a few months, once the eggs’ shells have hardened enough, she’ll find a proper place and lay them. How long it takes to hatch an egg isn’t very clear. Some eggs need a year while some require five. Nonetheless, the much-anticipated baby dragons will hatch their way out to the world, ready to tackle their own adventures
The dragon world is such an engaging one, full of mysteries and mesmerizing details. Hopefully, we’ve managed to shed light on some aspects of a dragon’s unique life and qualities, maybe even satisfied a bit of your curiosity!