What do you think of Peter Dickinson's dragon concept, outlined in "The Flight of Dragons"? Not necessarily the art, which is heavily stylized, but his general idea of how a dragon could function and still be biologically sound?
well, reading the wiki article, it soundsâŚ.. heh, p far-fetched, tbh
I mean, draco volans are indeed actual animals (and likely what Dickinson based the ârib-wingsâ off of), but we have to remember that these little lizards CANâT fly (only glide), and are also very small and donât need quite as advanced maneuverability (not to mention, not ALL their ribs are used for glidingâ they still have a ribcage). actual, powered flight in vertebrates NEEDS arm-like structures, in order to create the right, sweeping movements for flight. u canât get that kinda precise movement from simple ribs. this is especially important in larger animals, who need more power and precision to keep their masses up in the air, compared to little animals who can easier âfloatâ on air density. u canât get the specific and precise flight patterns of highly-developed bird and bat wings from stiff sticks in a row, which are essentially the wings Dickinson proposes. I mean, I already donât like the design of D&D brass and gold dragon wings
but at least THEYâVE got the power of arm muscles goin for âem at the front there. Dickinson wings donât have that kinda power
helium and other gases may make the dragons lighter, of course, but not enough to account for the dragonâs muscle/bone/innards masses (just think of how large the actual balloon-section of a zeppelin is compared to the cabin). a lighter frame CANNOT take the place of true, powerful flight
plus, according to the wiki, the chest cavity is, âsupported by its own gas pressure and a light but sturdy âhoneycombâ of boneâ. ok, 1) if the chest cavity is SO TIGHT from the gas that it could handle the assumed thrusting power of the ârib-wingâ muscles, then how the hell do the other innards stay intact? I canât imagine the lungs or heart could stand much of that kind of pressure before bursting. 2) âhoneycomb of boneâ is this bone ACTUALLY cartilage, cusâ if itâs not, how does the chest move? common vertebrate respiration involves lungs, IE- a chest and diaphragm that must be able to expand/contract and help fill the lungs. I canât imagine any other form of respiration (such as diffusion thru the skin) would give these dragons the proper amount of oxygen to sustain their large bodies and energy-intensive locomotion, so I ask again, HOW DO THE LUNGS WORK??
and how would this even evolve in the first place? unless the dinos the dragons evolved from were as small and light as that draco volans up there, I canât imagine this ever evolving into a larger species. the kinda gliding that evolved for draco volans works cus theyâre actively climbing about on trees and they needed better ways to get from one tree to another. Dickinson says (again, from the wiki), âdragons evolved from dinosaurs that were hyper-modified to allow powered flight despite being very large,â key phrase here, âdespite being very largeâ, which implies that his dragons evolved from the BIG dinos. big dinos DIDNâT climb. if someone has information that conflicts w/ this statement, plz tell me, cusâ I honestly want to know about the he-man-hulk of the prehistoric that was climbing trees. like, unless some species of dino was actively flinging themselves off of cliffs, theyâd have no need to be able to fly, or even glide
all-in-all, itâs a rather fun, creative theory to apply to children's media, but as far as I can tell, it wasn't ORIGINALLY intended for that, but as an actual, serious theory for dragon flight. so for all practical, realistic purposes, it doesnât work
of course, these thoughts are only based on what the wiki provides me. there could be things I missed simply b/c, obviously, the wiki isnât the full book, so if thereâs anything here about the theory I got wrong, plz tell me so I may be able to properly review it
