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Terrasaurus; Parallel earth were diapsod dragons rule
Topic Started: Oct 7 2009, 08:20 PM (3,372 Views)
ItHasTeeth
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Trying to get some outside insight on this. It's in desperate need of revision and I'm trying to get back into it.
Any ideas, words of wisdom, etc.?
Concepts are welcome.

Post comments here: http://zippo4k.deviantart.com/gallery/#Terrasaurus
Edited by ItHasTeeth, Oct 7 2009, 08:45 PM.
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Carlos
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Oh yes, the "dragon project". Venatosaurus did had some nice concepts for a dragon world, so maybe he'll prove quite usefull.
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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The Dodo
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Looks like a good project, did the dragons only start getting big after the K-T extinction or where they're big ones before? They would probably need to have some small species to survive the extinction.
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ItHasTeeth
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The Dodo
Oct 8 2009, 02:54 AM
Looks like a good project, did the dragons only start getting big after the K-T extinction or where they're big ones before? They would probably need to have some small species to survive the extinction.
After. There were basal representatives prior, but, yes, these were smaller, more generalized animals.
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sam999
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Do they breath fire?
I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad.
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Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please...
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Holben
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I hope so.
The best dragons are the fiery, killy, flyey, scaly, clever, predatory, rippy, omnipotent ones.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Venatosaurus
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I doubt they'd breath fire, maybe some could spit venom, or even acidic gastric juices. I like the idea of having furry, omnivorous, mountain-dwelling forms, that look like a dragons take on a llama. What about also including long bodied forms, that have huge, mole-like forearms, and are digging subterranean creatures...which also use their wings to aid them in digging ;)



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Carlos
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Awesome ideas Venatosaurus! :D

As for the fire breathing thing...no. Just no. I had enough crap with Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real. And fire breathing is quite useless, as pratically nothing would stop a fire breathing predator and as a result expect a mass extinction
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Venatosaurus
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Thanks Faa...and you're exactly right, if they could breath fire, the entire globe would be burnt, and no animal could run free from them !



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The Dodo
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Fire breathing would be hard to come up with a plausible reason for it. I've also wandered how the large flying dragons get off the ground.
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ItHasTeeth
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Yes, there is no fire breathing. None, zip, nadda, zilch. End of discussion.
Borrowing is something exploited by the early ancestors of the Wurms. Some have since become pelagic giants filling out the roles of seals and toothed whales.

No dragons have hair, but rather are covered flexible in hollow quills, which in a number of them have become structurally unique feathers (different from those of birds).

Wurms are interesting because, unlike snakes, they've retain their forelimbs (and some have rear toes or back flippers.*)

Dragons cannot be found at either pole. While they are warm blooded, I doubt they'd have what it takes to survive the harsh polar weather (although I'm sure some aquatic wurms would make it...)

*I might make the aquatic worms a separate clad... I dunno.

Problems I'm facing are trying to keep the dragons from being either too mammal-like or too dinosaur-like as well as figuring out how the skeleton is constructed for musculature (I'm thinking of having a posterior, low-situated pair of blades for the wing muscles to attach to, but trying to figure out how muscles would attach to the skull without having it seem like a dinosaur and still giving enough room for horns is hard.)

Problems with worms is... well... just coming up with worms. I have frugivorous wurms and burrowers. Trying to build aquatic ones now.
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Venatosaurus
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Yes, by fur, I meant the quills. Though I wonder why can't any dragons live at the poles, I mean if they reduce their wings to vestiges, utilize hollow-quills, and substantial amounts of body-fat then why not , but then again it's your project?! For the dragons, why not try to look at crocodilians and even squamates, since I'm sure they're distantly related. As for other ideas, why not some gliding worms !



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ATEK Azul
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This seems like a very interesting project I like the ground Sloth, Hominid, Colugo and Griffin equivelents and would love to see more of those groups.

As for plausibility I think your doing fine.

You could also fit in other mythological hexapods as relatives if you wanted.
I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's!
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Ok... dragon flight physics.

It is possible for a dragon like creature to fly but there are several problems.

1) Your standard dragon wing is essentially membranous flaps stretched between extended ribs or fingers. There is not enough in an arm to haul a 8m dragon into the air like this.

2) Your typical dragon wing is about 15m squared, so could only produce an upward thrust of about 120kg/m, enough to pull a rhino or hippo into the air.

3) Most dragons seen have tiny wings to body size.

But there are solutions.
The dragon's muscles are much denser and more powerful than terran ones.
The bones are hollow and with air spaces, like a birds.
The wings could be more rigid and have increased surface area.
The dragon should not be over 12m long, about T-rex size.
Helium sacs could be inside cells.
The scales are aerodynamic and lightweight, though strong.

And fire breathing? Possible, i've heard several explanations:
The dragon eats phosphate rocks, which dissolve in a special stomach to create a gas which is flammable on contact with air.
The dragon uses flammable venom, which it sparks with it's teeth.
And my favourite:
Inside the dragon their is nuclear fusion going on.

And, as with all megafauna, there won't be very many, and it uses a lot of fuel to make the fire, so we won't have to worry about them burning the planet.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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The Dodo
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I think a nuclear fusion reaction would kill the dragon.
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