I'm a Mammal and So Are You!

[HeinorNY]

Humans are also descendant from fish and fishes don't have hair, nor boobs.

 

[Umbran]

Nature generally doesn't do the same exact thing twice. It can do similar things over and over again. So, they can have something like hair, but not exactly the same.

Oh, and unless they're going to get into the ugliness of having characters bask in the sun before going adventuring, we probably have to accept that dragonborn are warm-blooded. So, let us please put to rest the idea that they are reptiles, or even particularly closely related to reptiles. They have reptilian features, sure, b ut that isn't the same thing.

 

[mara]

Nature generally doesn't do the same exact thing twice. It can do similar things over and over again. So, they can have something like hair, but not exactly the same.

Oh, and unless they're going to get into the ugliness of having characters bask in the sun before going adventuring, we probably have to accept that dragonborn are warm-blooded. So, let us please put to rest the idea that they are reptiles, or even particularly closely related to reptiles. They have reptilian features, sure, b ut that isn't the same thing.

So... dragonborn ninja or dragonborn pirate?

 

[Rykion]

To add: Dragons are not platapuses and dragonborn are not decended from these creatures. They are decended from dragons, who do not possess hair and do not nurse young and in fact do not possess the secondary sexual characteristics of mammals.

Who says they are descended from dragons? The Dragonborn's own creation myth in R&C has them being created at the same time as dragons by the god Io. In a fantasy setting, it is quite possible for a creature to have characteristics from multiple non-related species thanks to a little thing called magic.

 

[Nifft]

Nature generally doesn't do the same exact thing twice. It can do similar things over and over again. So, they can have something like hair, but not exactly the same.

"Why isn't his hair moving in the wind?"
"Grecian Formula 44?"
"That's not hair! That's his horns!"
"He has a mohawk of horns?"
"Sure, he took a level of Wizard just for the horn shape cantrip."

-- N

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Glass of milk
Standing in between extinction in the cold
and explosive radiating growth
So the warm blood flows
Through the large four-chambered heart
Maintaining the very high metabolism rate they have

Mammal, mammal
Their names are called
They raise a paw
The bat, the cat
Dolphin and dog
Koala bear and hog

One of us might lose his hair
But you're reminded that it once was there
From the embryonic whale to the monkey with no tail
So the warm blood flows
with the red blood cells lacking nuclei
Through the large four-chambered heart
Maintaining the very high metabolism rate they have

Mammal, mammal
Their names are called
They raise a paw
The bat, the cat
Dolphin and dog
Koala bear and hog

Placental the sister of her brother Marsupial
Their cousin called Monotreme
Dead uncle Allotheria

Mammal, mammal
Their names are called
They raise a paw
The bat, the cat
Dolphin and dog
Koala bear and hog
The fox, the ox
Giraffe and shrew
Echidna, caribou

Mammal - They Might Be Giants

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

What the hey is the evolutionary advantage of feeding your young milk, anyway?

Is it a question of sharing immunities, creating more feeding efficiencies in child rearing, or monkeying around with the development cycle or what?


Off this tangent:

I am actually really ok with Dragonborn getting some hair. It sounds cool.

Many traditional dragons have whiskers or manes.

 

[Henry]

Cool, does this mean that Thought Eaters are a playable race in 4E??? Woo-Hoo!

 

[Nikosandros]

If dragonborns aren't mammals does this mean that they can't be ninjas?

 

[Lorthanoth]

Some pterosaurs had hair. Who's to say that dragonborn can't grow fine keratin?

There was a group of animals loosely termed "mammal-like reptiles" in that they demonstrate both 'reptilian' and 'mammalian' features. It is not known if they had hair.

I now want to play a Platypusborn.