Ridgebacks - a dragon breed whose female pose is adored by many, while the male pose is simply loved or hated. With no in-between this black-and-white dynamic regarding male Ridgebacks, their bizarre snout appearance makes their potential often overlooked. In this forum post, I want to look at the evolutionary benefits of the long snout and shed a new light on why male Ridgebacks have evolved this physiological trait.
A common misconception is that the elongated snout helps with fishing, as their diet primarily consists of seafood, despite their deeply rooted water aversion. I have to partially disagree on that claim - should the snout serve as an in-built spear, the females too would possess the same spear-shaped nose to assist them when fishing. Therefore, the snout must have become shaped the way it is under different circumstances. However, I am not denying that the males do not benefit from the extra length to fish. What I mean by this claim is that the primary function of the snout is not fishing. To successfully fish, they already have in-built tools for that - their sickle claws on their thumbs.
Many species with apparent sexual dimorphism have these traits for a reason. A male peacock impresses potential partners with the length, coloration and number of the eyes on his feather tails. Next, a healthy lion’s mane not only attracts attention of potential females, but it also serves as an extra protection from other lions looking for a fight.
Ridgebacks didn’t evolve their significant snoot in a day. Events that happened over the course of thousands of years (though probably sped up by the Sornieth’s magic and influence of the deities themselves). But the question still lingers - why? Does the snout have some practical function or is it purely aesthetic to impress partners?
Coming from the hot and dry desert climate of the Shifting Expanse, the snout’s primary function is plain and simple - it’s a thermometer. As for why only males have it, here’s my proposal. Unlike other dragon breeds, where the nesting duty lays either on the female or is equally distributed between both partners, the male Ridgeback is the primary caretaker of the eggs. Male Ridgebacks become extremely broody when they nest; it is said that a broody male’s temper is far worse than that of a molting Ridgeback.
How and why did this evolve? Like I mentioned earlier, a hot climate is a challenging environment to take care of eggs. The male will use the very tip of the snout to check the temperature of the eggs and the surrounding nesting area. The snout is sensitive and can even sense movement and vibration, a beneficial advantage that allows them to check the health of their unhatched offspring. A newly formed pair will seek out a suitable nesting area. As a burrowing breed, the digging allows them to reach colder areas, forming tunnels and caves, or inhabiting pre-built systems.. As the pair digs, the male will often use his snout to prod the soil. The longer the snout is the more it allows him to press the snoot deeper in the earth without digging too much. Modern advancement and other regions of Sornieth means temperature regulation has become easier for the Ridgebacks, mostly those who do not live in their original homeland.
Over the course of the Ridgeback evolution, it is very likely the male Ridgeback had looked identical to the female. As the years went on, combined with selective behaviour, the females took notice the likelihood of egg survival rose around males with longer snouts. Both breeds have retained the ability to measure temperature, although the female’s temperature measuring senses have diminished greatly. Thus, females began preferring males with longer snouts as their partner.
After mating, the male will bulk up to prepare for nesting. He will gain a lot of weight, as once he starts brooding, he will rarely leave the nest and lose a lot of his appetite. His guardianship of the eggs rivals the protective instincts of the Guardian dragons. The female’s duty in the meantime is to stock up on supplies, protect the surrounding area of the nesting region and provide food for the male if he does get hungry, which usually happens at the end of the incubation period.
Modern conveniences do eliminate some of the risks it takes to hatch a healthy set of eggs, meaning the male can allow to ease up on his egg nesting duty. In multi-breed lairs, the male Ridgeback will often take care of others’ eggs. He naturally knows what eggs require the correct temperature. The normally rambunctious and tanky breed, the broody male surprises many with his gentle ability to hatch the smallest of breeds.
Besides temperature regulator, the snout is multifunctional. Both sexes rub snoots together to greet each other. Males of higher authority will position their snoot higher than a lower ranking or younger male.
In the case of a simple playfight or a serious territorial dispute, the males position shoulder to shoulder. They stretch their necks vertically, pointing the nose high up in the sky. To prevent the fight from escalating, they simply measure each other up and push their opponents with the shoulder. If no dragon wants to yield, the dragons will start to rear in an attempt to use more of their bulk to push the other one over. The snout, combined with the length and musculate of their necks comes into the play as they exhibit fencing behaviour - they use their snout to hit each other in the face, head and neck. Such fighting limits the usage of their deadly claws that could turn the fight lethal.
Because of this, the snout has no pain receptors. However, nerves do run along the length of it as it must accurately measure the temperature and feel the vibrations of the eggs.
Females do not exhibit such behaviour. Should a female need to fight another Ridgeback, she will perform most actions similar to the male (shoulder-to-shoulder, neck stretched vertically), minus the snout comparison. The lack of the long snout benefits the female as she has easier time biting her opponents. Claw related injuries happen far more often when female Ridgebacks fight and their hides are marked by scars more often than males.
I hope this forum post has shed a new light on this beloved flying goblin shark dragons. Art is all drawn by me.
A common misconception is that the elongated snout helps with fishing, as their diet primarily consists of seafood, despite their deeply rooted water aversion. I have to partially disagree on that claim - should the snout serve as an in-built spear, the females too would possess the same spear-shaped nose to assist them when fishing. Therefore, the snout must have become shaped the way it is under different circumstances. However, I am not denying that the males do not benefit from the extra length to fish. What I mean by this claim is that the primary function of the snout is not fishing. To successfully fish, they already have in-built tools for that - their sickle claws on their thumbs.
Many species with apparent sexual dimorphism have these traits for a reason. A male peacock impresses potential partners with the length, coloration and number of the eyes on his feather tails. Next, a healthy lion’s mane not only attracts attention of potential females, but it also serves as an extra protection from other lions looking for a fight.
Ridgebacks didn’t evolve their significant snoot in a day. Events that happened over the course of thousands of years (though probably sped up by the Sornieth’s magic and influence of the deities themselves). But the question still lingers - why? Does the snout have some practical function or is it purely aesthetic to impress partners?
Coming from the hot and dry desert climate of the Shifting Expanse, the snout’s primary function is plain and simple - it’s a thermometer. As for why only males have it, here’s my proposal. Unlike other dragon breeds, where the nesting duty lays either on the female or is equally distributed between both partners, the male Ridgeback is the primary caretaker of the eggs. Male Ridgebacks become extremely broody when they nest; it is said that a broody male’s temper is far worse than that of a molting Ridgeback.
How and why did this evolve? Like I mentioned earlier, a hot climate is a challenging environment to take care of eggs. The male will use the very tip of the snout to check the temperature of the eggs and the surrounding nesting area. The snout is sensitive and can even sense movement and vibration, a beneficial advantage that allows them to check the health of their unhatched offspring. A newly formed pair will seek out a suitable nesting area. As a burrowing breed, the digging allows them to reach colder areas, forming tunnels and caves, or inhabiting pre-built systems.. As the pair digs, the male will often use his snout to prod the soil. The longer the snout is the more it allows him to press the snoot deeper in the earth without digging too much. Modern advancement and other regions of Sornieth means temperature regulation has become easier for the Ridgebacks, mostly those who do not live in their original homeland.
Over the course of the Ridgeback evolution, it is very likely the male Ridgeback had looked identical to the female. As the years went on, combined with selective behaviour, the females took notice the likelihood of egg survival rose around males with longer snouts. Both breeds have retained the ability to measure temperature, although the female’s temperature measuring senses have diminished greatly. Thus, females began preferring males with longer snouts as their partner.
After mating, the male will bulk up to prepare for nesting. He will gain a lot of weight, as once he starts brooding, he will rarely leave the nest and lose a lot of his appetite. His guardianship of the eggs rivals the protective instincts of the Guardian dragons. The female’s duty in the meantime is to stock up on supplies, protect the surrounding area of the nesting region and provide food for the male if he does get hungry, which usually happens at the end of the incubation period.
Modern conveniences do eliminate some of the risks it takes to hatch a healthy set of eggs, meaning the male can allow to ease up on his egg nesting duty. In multi-breed lairs, the male Ridgeback will often take care of others’ eggs. He naturally knows what eggs require the correct temperature. The normally rambunctious and tanky breed, the broody male surprises many with his gentle ability to hatch the smallest of breeds.
Besides temperature regulator, the snout is multifunctional. Both sexes rub snoots together to greet each other. Males of higher authority will position their snoot higher than a lower ranking or younger male.
In the case of a simple playfight or a serious territorial dispute, the males position shoulder to shoulder. They stretch their necks vertically, pointing the nose high up in the sky. To prevent the fight from escalating, they simply measure each other up and push their opponents with the shoulder. If no dragon wants to yield, the dragons will start to rear in an attempt to use more of their bulk to push the other one over. The snout, combined with the length and musculate of their necks comes into the play as they exhibit fencing behaviour - they use their snout to hit each other in the face, head and neck. Such fighting limits the usage of their deadly claws that could turn the fight lethal.
Because of this, the snout has no pain receptors. However, nerves do run along the length of it as it must accurately measure the temperature and feel the vibrations of the eggs.
Females do not exhibit such behaviour. Should a female need to fight another Ridgeback, she will perform most actions similar to the male (shoulder-to-shoulder, neck stretched vertically), minus the snout comparison. The lack of the long snout benefits the female as she has easier time biting her opponents. Claw related injuries happen far more often when female Ridgebacks fight and their hides are marked by scars more often than males.
I hope this forum post has shed a new light on this beloved flying goblin shark dragons. Art is all drawn by me.
