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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 29 2009, 1:21 PM EDT | greengiant89 | 583 words added |
| Sep 29 2009, 12:18 PM EDT | greengiant89 |
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(please note that every idea and theory that is put forward is just speculation and assumed that the dragon lived during prehistoric times)
one of the reasons that dragons could not exist in the manor that they are portrayed is due to their size. no creature larger than a baby elephant would be able to lift its body of the ground. now if we assumed that they where in some way related to birds then we could also assume that they may have had hollow bones. strong whilst also light. this could increase the size of the dragon to say a adult elephant. as for the hardest part of any flight the take-of i believe that the dragon would act in a similar fasion as the Hatzegopteryx the largest known pterosaur. the Hatzegopteryx had a wingspan of 12 metres (40ft). to take of this vast pterosaur would leap of cliffsides or face into strong winds to provide initial lift. I do not believe that the dragon could reach such sizes due to its body bulk. the dragon may have been either cold or warm blooded but either way it would need a lot of food to produce enough energy for flight. when it comes to hunting i think that it would have fed on medium to large unarmoured herbivore using ambush from they sky to swoop down perhaps landing on the dinosaurs back crushing the spine or delivering a fatal blow to the throat.
now as for the most outlandish part of the dragon being able to breath fire. let me start by assuming a dragon could breath fire, there are two steps that must first be overcome fuel and ignition. as you should all know a fire needs oxygen and a combustable solid liquid or gas. i will rule solids out as storing it would be difficult. so i will start with a gas the easier one to store inside the body. many fish swim using a swim bladder which is a expanding pouch filled with gas for bouancy, a dragon may have something similar that it fills with a fuel of some sort that could be produced by bacteria in the gut after breaking down its food so essentialy the dragon would let rip (fart) out its mouth and then light it on its way out. the liquid would not be sprayed as the gas it would be more vomited out producing perhaps a sticky flamable liquid that would burn easily much like many modern flamethrowers. as for the ignition system this is the easier bit. the dragon would have strong teeth that when ground together produce a spark like stone age flint perhaps the dragon may have actually used iron ore chewed and pushed into molars in its mouth and then ground together in exactly the same way stone age people struck flint and iron together. if the swim bladder full of gasses where used then a gas such as helium or hydrogen which are lighter than air would also aid the dragon in flight. but i do not think that this flame would be used in hunting it would be more of a threat to ward of large predators such as t-rex whilst on the ground where it would be vulnerable. it may also be used in mating the best flame would indicate the stronger male therfore giving the right to mate with the females.
but all this is speculation if you would like to add anything please do.
one of the reasons that dragons could not exist in the manor that they are portrayed is due to their size. no creature larger than a baby elephant would be able to lift its body of the ground. now if we assumed that they where in some way related to birds then we could also assume that they may have had hollow bones. strong whilst also light. this could increase the size of the dragon to say a adult elephant. as for the hardest part of any flight the take-of i believe that the dragon would act in a similar fasion as the Hatzegopteryx the largest known pterosaur. the Hatzegopteryx had a wingspan of 12 metres (40ft). to take of this vast pterosaur would leap of cliffsides or face into strong winds to provide initial lift. I do not believe that the dragon could reach such sizes due to its body bulk. the dragon may have been either cold or warm blooded but either way it would need a lot of food to produce enough energy for flight. when it comes to hunting i think that it would have fed on medium to large unarmoured herbivore using ambush from they sky to swoop down perhaps landing on the dinosaurs back crushing the spine or delivering a fatal blow to the throat.
now as for the most outlandish part of the dragon being able to breath fire. let me start by assuming a dragon could breath fire, there are two steps that must first be overcome fuel and ignition. as you should all know a fire needs oxygen and a combustable solid liquid or gas. i will rule solids out as storing it would be difficult. so i will start with a gas the easier one to store inside the body. many fish swim using a swim bladder which is a expanding pouch filled with gas for bouancy, a dragon may have something similar that it fills with a fuel of some sort that could be produced by bacteria in the gut after breaking down its food so essentialy the dragon would let rip (fart) out its mouth and then light it on its way out. the liquid would not be sprayed as the gas it would be more vomited out producing perhaps a sticky flamable liquid that would burn easily much like many modern flamethrowers. as for the ignition system this is the easier bit. the dragon would have strong teeth that when ground together produce a spark like stone age flint perhaps the dragon may have actually used iron ore chewed and pushed into molars in its mouth and then ground together in exactly the same way stone age people struck flint and iron together. if the swim bladder full of gasses where used then a gas such as helium or hydrogen which are lighter than air would also aid the dragon in flight. but i do not think that this flame would be used in hunting it would be more of a threat to ward of large predators such as t-rex whilst on the ground where it would be vulnerable. it may also be used in mating the best flame would indicate the stronger male therfore giving the right to mate with the females.
but all this is speculation if you would like to add anything please do.
