The Skeletal Structure


The dragon is thought to be the largest known flying creature. To maintain it's enormous bulk in the air, his physical structure has had to be different from that of other reptiles from whom many people inaccurately associate dragons with them. A dragons wing bones fit on to broad shoulders which support the powerful wing muscles; they require an extraordinary articulator system unknown in other species. The bones were tougher than reinforced concrete but much lighter. It is important to note that the bones of a dragon are hollow like birds to reduce their mass, scientifically: any creature with the physiology of a dragon can fly well and at great speeds.

The Muscular system


The dragons muscular system is one of the most fascinating and one of the most complicated. We can evaluate the power in the bite of a dragon to put to an average of 2 tons per cm cubed. As a matter of fact, dragons are very powerful. Their legs and arms can support great charge without much difficulty but this only applies on ground movement because in the air, a dragon could not maintain more than half it's own weight for long periods of time. That means dragons probably could not run, the muscles in their legs and arms were not developed for this matter. This doesn't means they could not walk, it only means that they could not reach great speed on the ground. Take in consideration that dragons come in such a variety that it could be possible for a dragon to run.

The Scales


The dragons body is completely covered with tough, shiny scales. Dragons usually don't have this scaly armor on the neck or stomach, possibly due to his habit of burrowing underground, not all draconologists agree about this. To protect it's "soft" abdomen the dragon often creates a jeweled breastplate. Using his saliva, which has powerful adhesive properties, and which he secretes on an empty stomach, the dragon often sticks precious stones on it's neck and stomach, for protection as well as adornment. The scales are pentagonal, and shaped like a teardrop, with two long sides and two shorter ones, and a very short fifth side attached to the skin. The dragon can make them stand on end whenever it likes to preen them. Remember, the dragon is a very clean creature and takes great care always to keep it's skin and scales clean and immaculate. In their normal position, the scales overlap very neatly and, thanks to a tiny cavity in the surface, they fit into each other to allow perfect freedom of movement. If you study a scale closely, you would observe the following characteristics; the innermost part is composed of a compact hairy formation firmly rooted in the epidermis. On the hair follicle there are some tiny glands which secrete a substance that adheres firmly to the skin. This substance is rich in minerals, which determine the hardness and the color of the dragon's scales. The external surface has a horny, translucent texture, which gives the scales their habitual luster. The dragon does not need to remove his skin like most other reptiles, as the scales grow, they are renewed automatically, like human nails and hair. They do not shed from the body, except in case of illness.

Wings and Flight


The wings of a dragon are based on the principle arm of any animal, i.e. they consist of four very lengthened fingers, the whole wing is connected with a membrane. It is significant to understand that the similar struture between the shoulder, the arm and the hand is homologous with the corresponding structures of the dragons wing. It is also important to understand that the membrane of the wing does not attach close to the shoulder, but near the bottom of the dragons back and close to the thighs. This is very important since if the wings were connected in the top of the back, the dragon would fly but it would have a vertical position (head up, posterior & tail down) that would be a serious disadvantage for the speed and also for the maneuvrability. When the wings are connected at the bottom of the back, the dragon can have a horizontal position and so the head and the tail can be used as rudders and allows a great maneuvrability. This also allows a greater surface for the wings.

Coloring


It is impossible to list the enormous variety of color shades that make up the dragon's brilliant coloring, but they can be divided into three broad color groupings:

  • Blues, Light blues to dark blues, and silver textures.
  • Reds, Light reds to dark reds and copper textures.
  • Yellows, Light yellows to dark yellows, and golden textures.

    Although these three principal color groups are not usually mixed, a dragon's coloring is rarely uniform. In general, it's scales are composed several color shades from one of the main color categories, with a metallic luster which is hard to define. When the scales have a pale appearance, it is a sure sign of ill health. Many dragons are known by their scales, such as Ancalagon the Black, Smaug the Golden and Spars the Green.

    Dragons - Petit or Grande?:


    For many of you, the word "dragon" means huge, enormous creature, but out of any reasonable doubts, the facts are different from the fairy tales. Dragons are probably small creatures (from 1 foot to 10 feet long).

    Breathing Weapon!?

  • Fire Breather:


    The breath weapon of a dragon is not a magical thing that spreads out of no-where but has a more scientific explanation. When we eat, by digesting our body creates a gas know as Methane, dragons unlike humans and other animals store this gas into another kind of lung that will serve as a container to hold the gas that will be later mixed with a small amount of phosphor that has the propriety to ignite when it is mixed with air. When the dragon wants to breathe fire, the methane is release into the lung and when the gas is in the air, the phosphor ignites and also puts the methane on fire.

  • Cold/Frost Breather:


    Some dragons breathe a cone of frost, the explanation for this is also in the food that the dragon ingests. The food is broken down into the stomach primary for nutrition but the remains bear some chemical reactions that will give a gas, I suppose to be Nitrogen, the gas is compress by extremely strong muscles, exactly like the base system of a refrigeration system, the dragon doesn't need to do a thing for it because it is spontaneous and painless. When a dragon needs to freeze an opponent, the highly compressed nitrogen, that almost reach the liquid state, is release in the lungs and when the gas comes into the air, it expands at an alarming rate of speed. It results in the gas absorbing all the heat in it's environment. This causes the temperature in the dragons breath to drop to a freezing temperature, anyone caught in the path of the breath even with heavy cold protection either die or have severe injuries.It may have another explanation that can be explain by extremely efficient and fast oxidation-reduction reactions.

  • Acid Breather:


    The easiest of them, all organic creature secrete gastric acids to break down the food, dragons who can spit acid have a special organ that produce a powerful acid that the dragon releases when it breathes, the opponent is burn by the acid, even with the best armors made of metal make bad reactions with acid. For other breathing weapons follow the same principle and don't need much detail about them. It seems there is a direct link between the breath and the food, if a dragon is starving his breathing weapon doesn't regenerate. All the incredible system of the dragon makes it the most fascinating creature in the know universe.

    The Reproductive System


    The reproductive system of these creatures is internal, it means that at the look of their external physiognomy, it is hard to determine if a dragon is a male or a female, only the general behavior and the small change in their color can provide information about the dragon's gender. Dragons lay eggs like reptiles and birds, eggs are protected by a hard shell that with time will weaken to let the new baby dragon break it with ease. The incubation period of these creatures is mostly unknown; some eggs will hatch in a year or two and some more than five years. The dragon eggs are rich in calcium and I suppose that the newborn dragons eat it's shell to not waste the nutrients in it. The mating process is known as dragon-slide: the two partners fly high in the sky and after a moment they grab each other and close their wings and free-fall. Then at less than a hundred feet from the ground they open their wings and land. The dragons unusual mating process is mainly because dragons love speed and risk, and add these to the pleasure of their love, they have a sensation that humans could never enjoy.

    This information has been collect from various resources, and I do not take any credit for it's originality.