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swordwhale
Tol Eressea
Apr 7 2013, 3:58am
Views: 765
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Our local park hosted a Dino weekend. A small boy asked about the relationship between dragons and dinosaurs. (I personally think dragons are a genetic memory of dinos, wired into our DNA)... the paleontologist (who had done a bit of consulting on Jurassic Park, and had a T-rex talon that had flown off in that final scene... oooogh aaaaahhhhh) ...said that all cultures have dragon stories, even cultures (like arctic ones) who live nowhere near reptiles...
...they all have dinosaur fossils. That, and some travellers' tales of oversized crocs or snakes, and some deep mythic archetypes in our DNA, and some other stuff = dragons.
Remember that a lot of dinosaurs have legs constructed like mammals, under them.
Pterosaurs, related to, but not dinosaurs, could be quite large: Hatzegopteryx thambema wingspan;10 m (33 ft)-11 m (36 ft). Of course they are "wyverns".
Animal Planet did a swell "docu-fiction" on dragons, called "Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real". It featured some confrontations between dragons and dinos. And some convincing anatomy.
The completely excellent Dreamworks animation: "How to Train Your Dragon" took the Viking Age and ran off into left field with it. The dragons were imaginative, and based on a variety of real animals. I use (when I do art classes for kids a the local park) it as a great example of artists studying nature and reality before they invent something fantastic.
I always drew my dragons somewhat horselike (because I grew up on horses and understood their anatomy best), and my iconic dragons were McCaffrey's. Now I think I would see them as closely related to utahraptors (what those "velociraptors" in Jurassic Park really were) in their leg structure. They are predators, so their leg structure would be closer to that of the aforementioned dino, or a canine or feline (ie: Toothless, in How to Train Your Dragon), not a hoofed prey item like equines or bovines. The lower leg is longer on prey items, generally shorter on predators (a cat's wrist is lower than the same joint on a horse: the "knee").
The very large pterosaurs are more complex than originally thought: hollow bones, air sacs (like birds), a covering of "fur"...
Our concept of dragons as big flying lizards is probably out of date in a big way...
Go outside and play...
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Time
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the biology of dragons
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 12:11am
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something else that has always struck me...
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 12:14am
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Hmmm?
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SirDennisC
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Apr 7 2013, 12:30am
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re game of thrones dragons/wyverns
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 12:38am
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smaug renditions
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 12:42am
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Tolkien was clear though
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Sinister71
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Apr 7 2013, 4:43am
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Agreed. The BLUEPRINT for Smaug should be the famed Tolkien drawing.
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AinurOlorin
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Apr 7 2013, 8:38pm
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Didn't think of it, but
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tarasaurus
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Apr 7 2013, 12:15am
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depending on the way
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 12:20am
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Wargs from TTT
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KieranDhesi
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Apr 7 2013, 12:26am
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i must confess
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 1:23am
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That is SO
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tarasaurus
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Apr 7 2013, 12:42am
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hah!
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 12:56am
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I love thinking about this stuff!
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Brego93
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Apr 7 2013, 12:39am
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yes!
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 12:55am
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heyhey! You know what i'm talking about!
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Brego93
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Apr 7 2013, 1:46am
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stance
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 2:08am
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Count me in
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Silverlode
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Apr 7 2013, 6:47am
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Great topic!
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Roheryn
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Apr 7 2013, 2:21am
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hah! i +love+ the assessment of your boy-child
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 2:37am
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Even from the smallest of glimpses I'm thinking he's gonna be Alan Lee's Smaug
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sycorax82
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Apr 7 2013, 2:47am
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thots on dragonology
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swordwhale
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Apr 7 2013, 3:58am
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genetic memory
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 10:25am
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cumbersmaugs
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swordwhale
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Apr 7 2013, 5:17pm
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i hesitate to say this in mixed company...
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 5:22pm
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oh, and btw...
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 5:23pm
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I cannot take credit...
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swordwhale
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Apr 7 2013, 6:19pm
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Such a cool topic
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redgiraffe
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Apr 7 2013, 5:53am
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oliphaunts
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 10:36am
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Of course
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ArchedCory
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Apr 7 2013, 2:35pm
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Largest land MAMMAL. Bing distinction. Many saurians were much larger.
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AinurOlorin
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Apr 7 2013, 8:40pm
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of course
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Maciliel
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Apr 7 2013, 9:04pm
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Have you seen The Flight of Dragons, Maciliel?
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Fredeghar Wayfarer
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Apr 8 2013, 5:37am
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hallo, fredeghar : )
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Maciliel
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Apr 8 2013, 11:19am
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