What is a dragon?

[Tonguez]

Other than that TV special, no. Don't most western dragons have cat-like teeth (rather than reptilian teeth, which is what they should have if they're lizards)? .

My theory is that Dragons are pelycosaurs clade which developed a double sail (form from elongated vertebral spines) which eventually developed into wings.

Anyway as Pelycosaurs dragons are not reptiles but rather synapsids.

Synapsids are a group of animals that include Pelycosaurs, Gorgonopsia and moderd Mammals. All but Mammals are now extinct (although personally I beleive that the Monotremata (Platypus and Echidna) should be classified as Therapsids)

Now imagine a taller creature with a double fin - thats a dragon skeleton...

 

[arscott]

Honestly, I think the major connection is a tendancy to examine the mythology of other cultures only in relation to our own. Anything powerful and vaguely reptilian is called the culture's version of a dragon, just as any fairytale that involves a girl triumphing over her wicked stepmother to marry and important person is a version of cinderella.

It's probably half a matter of language (ie. Dragon is the english transtlation of the mandarin word Lóng or the Nahuatl word Quetzelcoatl), and half a matter of cultural superiority (That powerful spirit you revere is really a dragon. Europeans like Sigurd and St. George kill those things all the time).

 

[Slife]

Somebody, I forget who, postulated that the dragon basically came from taking a snake's attributes and exaggerating them or asking "What would be even worse?"
The snake's venom burns, so an exaggeration of that is fire breath.
The snake strikes quickly, so an exaggeration of that is flight (or, looking at it another way, a snake is fortunately landbound, but imagine how much worse it would be if it could fly).

?

Somewhat related, but I remember hearing the origin of the cyclops (one-eyed giants) was primitive explorers finding wooly mammoth skulls. The trunk-hole looked like one huge eye.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopia

Cyclopia (also cyclocephaly or synophthalmia) is a rare form of holoprosencephaly and is a congenital disorder (birth defect) characterized by the failure of the embryonic prosencephalon to properly divide the orbits of the eye into two cavities. Its incidence is 1 in 16,000 in born animals, and 1 in 250 in embryos. Typically, the nose is either missing or replaced with a functioning nose in the form of a proboscis. It is sometimes thought to be caused by ingesting the lily Veratrum Californicum or other wild plants containing toxins on the 14th day of gestation. The mistake of ingesting Veratrum Californicum while pregnant is often due to the fact that hellebore, a plant that is a member of the same genus, is recommended in humans as a natural treatment for vomiting, cramps, and poor circulation, three conditions that are quite common in pregnant women.

 

[Roman]

Wow, that is some interesting stuff.

 

[Nightfall]

Well they are more than flying firebreathing lizards that for sure!

 

[reason]

...

A dragon is an symbol grown so large on the consumption of other ideas that it can feasibly appear as anything at all. Like rock and roll, vampirism, economics and other similar giants, it has eaten its way into that odd lock-step between steering and being steered by the thoughts and desires of humanity.

Perhaps it was even real somewhere, sometime. It will certainly be real one day, because someone will create it from the intersection of whimsy, biotechnology and the profit motive. Somewhere, something sleeping in Dragon Pass is smiling.

Reason
Principia Infecta

 

[Nightfall]

And thus once again, reason scares me.

(not necessarily you the poster reason, just the idea of it! )

 

[Shades of Green]

My theory is that Dragons are pelycosaurs clade which developed a double sail (form from elongated vertebral spines) which eventually developed into wings.

Anyway as Pelycosaurs dragons are not reptiles but rather synapsids.

Synapsids are a group of animals that include Pelycosaurs, Gorgonopsia and moderd Mammals. All but Mammals are now extinct (although personally I beleive that the Monotremata (Platypus and Echidna) should be classified as Therapsids)

I had a similar idea for my world (Renya), in which there were several evolutionary pathes on my world that weren't on Earth; one was that of lung-breathing arthropods (thus removing the restrictions on size imposed on insects by their tracheal breathing system) eventually giving riose to some of the "insectoid" mosters (and sometimes becoming as intelligent as mammals rather than "vermin"). another was of another developmental path splitting from reptiles, parallel to birds and mammals, developing warm blood and a fully-partitioned heart (as some dinosaurs were speculated to have), and bird-style reproductive habits (both parents nest; parents take care of their young after hatching as opposed to most reptiles), while retaining several reptilian characteristics (laying eggs, scaled skin, claws, and, in most cases, tails) this new group has eventually developed into a wide variety of post-reptillian creatures, including (among others) Dragons, Kobolds, Lizardmen and Celirans. Celirans and Lizardmen are related to each other (think Human and Gorilla), but quite distantly related to Dragons and Kobolds (think Human and Whale); Dragons and Kobolds are as related to each other as Humans and Gibbons are.

Magic is a natural force in my world; most sentient (and sometimes non-sentient) organisms have evolved a latent ability to manipulate it - and thus could becomes wizards or sorcerers - and some organisms have evolved far more active means to utilize magic for their survival. Dragons are a prime example of the latter - think of them as the "baleen whales" of their clade, but with far deeper ties into magic than most other natural beings.

Now, ofcourse, powerful mages and spirits have the ability to mess with the genetic makeup of animal and plant lifeforms - and hence the oulbears and many other magical beasts and abberations (though many are natural, such as, for example, mindflayers and aboleths, which are related by the way).

 

[Allandaros]

Somebody, I forget who, postulated that the dragon basically came from taking a snake's attributes and exaggerating them or asking "What would be even worse?"
The snake's venom burns, so an exaggeration of that is fire breath.
The snake strikes quickly, so an exaggeration of that is flight (or, looking at it another way, a snake is fortunately landbound, but imagine how much worse it would be if it could fly).

I believe this was Isaac Asimov, in an essay on fantasy.

 

[Nightfall]

"Dragons are power incarnate, and they know it."
-Dragonlance Adventures

Quoted for truth! Good call Mister Trampas sir!