General Discussion

[quote name="Fishlung" date="2023-08-08 19:52:17" ] Not a vertebrate, but I raise you: Trilobite Beetle [/quote] @Fishlung Wow, that's a BEETLE? Those things are even wilder than I thought. That is super cool! [quote name="Acetheaxolotl" date="2023-08-08 19:49:06" ] Why is being tiny a con? Faes are tiny dragon! And they are adorable! Tiny dragon supremacy! [/quote] @Acetheaxolotl I put it as a con because people more often think of dragons as large creatures than not, but it's true there are plenty of small dragons. [quote name="Acetheaxolotl" date="2023-08-08 19:57:34" ] Also: Cassowaries have to be some kind of dragon wearing a faulty disguise spell. They even roar. https://youtu.be/iy-9Z2KrjsY Bearded dragons Keeled viper Crested Geckos are baby dragons Megalainia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalania [/quote] Oh boy cassowaries are scary creatures! I remember thinking the same thing about the crested gecko, upon seeing its head shape and eye shape. I wish I could have one (the gecko, not the cassowary), but where I live they're banned due to invasive species laws! [quote name="TransDisaster" date="2023-08-09 11:17:48" ] i have a pet dinosaur. he's a little bird. i dont truly believe most dinosaurs were reptiles. science has proved that its more likely most dinosaurs had feathers, and i connect dragons and dinosaurs a lot. [/quote] @TransDisaster I remember reading a theory that the reason so many cultures have dragons is because of humans having a "genetic memory" of dinosaurs from when our tiny mammal ancestors were living underneath their feet. It's a cool theory, but you'd think that if it was true then dragons would be fluffier - feathered dragons seem to be rare in history, despite being common designs nowadays.

[quote name="Fishes" date="2023-08-09 15:39:57" ] I was going to also say komodo dragons but shoutout to armadillo lizards, draco lizards, and thorny devils because all of those would be like. micro dragons. [/quote] @Fishes I love the overabundance of spikes on those little creatures. It's like someone wanted to design a cactus dragon and went all in on prickliness. [quote name="Mangorain" date="2023-08-09 18:35:59" ] my time has come I raise to you: - Closest to Eastern/Chinese Dragons: Flying Snake - Living Reptilians Capable of Flight: Flying Snake, Draco Lizard - Closest to Flightless Dragons: Eared monitor lizard, alligator, armadillo lizard, sailfin lizard - Closest to sea serpents: Oarfish, dragonfish, sea snakes, giant siphonophore - One dinosaur that needs a shout out: Quetzalcoatlus - it was as large as an aircraft! - Random thing that looks cool and kinda dragonish: Blue dragon sea slug Honestly for me, the draco lizard always wins - it's basically a mini-dragon, and is astonishingly common in its native habitat. But I have to say that alligators, when swimming, look scarily like sea dragons, especially with their large scales. Edit: The leaf-tailed gecko deserves to be noted as some form of possible nature dragon [/quote] @Mangorain Definitely agree the Draco lizard is uncannily like a dragon. It's the ability to have both wings and 4 limbs that makes it for me (and they're coloured green and orange and red just like you'd expect a dragon to be). For the eastern dragons I'd still vote olm over the flying snake due to its frilly "mane" and how eastern dragons tend to be associated with water or live underwater. They are both good contenders though! I was actually going to include crocodilians in my original post (I decided to cut it down to 4 for brevity). I think their tails with the spiky ridges look very dragonlike, and so do their slit-pupil eyes. (And thanks for reminding me of the siphonophore. Absolutely otherworldly creature.) [quote name="Enmu" date="2023-08-10 12:27:11" ] Can i add the Green Anole to the list? [/quote] @Enmu Lizards with throat fans like these seem to be one of the things that inspired the newest dragon legendaries in Pokémon. I love tiny animals that try their best to be intimidating. [quote name="Xionahri" date="2023-08-10 13:41:01" ] I've seen a different, more recent takeon the "dragons = genetic memory"-idea. Eagles, snakes and leopards are the main predators of small monkeys. Regardless of mythology, dragon-like creatures zend to have aspects of all three of these animals. Maybe, as the monkeys became bigger, they judt started to combine ideas that they found scary. [/quote] @Xionahri Oh, that's an interesting take! It does seem to be that many dragons are more a combination of reptile, mammal (the upright limbs) and bird (the claws and neck) than just solely reptile inspired (though many of them are indeed just Big Snakes). I do wonder how the bat wings of many western kinds came into the equation though. [quote name="Xionahri" date="2023-08-10 13:41:01" ] Regardless of that, let me offer you another fish. The long-snouted lancetfish:. [/quote] That creature looks like it's expressly built for murdering, I love it. Interesting little whisker things they have on their sail. Sounds like they can get reasonably big too! [quote name="Thedreamstalker" date="2023-08-10 15:16:02" ] Blue glaucus Phrictus quinquepartitus Also known as dragon headed lantern bug Frilled lizard [/quote] @Thedreamstalker I was actually hoping for a glaucus inspired water ancient (lion fish and eels have their own share of dragon characteristics but a sea slug dragon with those patterns as a gene would have been so cool). Those are some WILD patterns on the bug's wings. [quote name="Paleogene" date="2023-08-10 15:18:11" ] I raise you ankylosaurs. Pretty much drakes! [/quote] @Paleogene Ok, those are basically terrestrial dragons! With the size to back it up too! The streamlined shape of the nodosaurids especially makes me think dragon. [quote name="Iokharic" date="2023-08-10 18:36:37" ] I shall nominate the leafy sea dragon the Chinese giant salamander is some sort of ancient swamp dragon I'm pretty sure this thing was in one of the How to Train Your Dragon movies (mata mata turtle) If not dragon, the hammerhead bat is at least a gargoyle [/quote] @Iokharic Leafy sea dragon is actually such a cool animal. I think in Japanese mythology seahorses were said to be baby dragons (though probably not that specific one seeing as it's only found on the south Australian coast) It struck me just now that salamander looks like a Protobeast [item=protobeast] And I can see the turtle fitting right in with the HTTYD art style (the look on its face tho...)