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 sounds….. heh, p far-fetched, tbh
I mean, draco volans are indeed actual animals (and likely what Dickinson based the “rib-wings” off of), but we have to remember that these little lizards CAN’T fly (only glide), and are also very small and don’t need quite as advanced maneuverability (not to mention, not ALL their ribs are used for gliding— 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 can’t 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 “float” on air density. u can’t 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 don’t like the design of D&D brass and gold dragon wings
but at least THEY’VE got the power of arm muscles goin for ‘em at the front there. Dickinson wings don’t have that kinda power
helium and other gases may make the dragons lighter, of course, but not enough to account for the dragon’s 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, “supported by its own gas pressure and a light but sturdy ‘honeycomb’ of bone”. ok, 1) if the chest cavity is SO TIGHT from the gas that it could handle the assumed thrusting power of the “rib-wing” muscles, then how the hell do the other innards stay intact? I can’t imagine the lungs or heart could stand much of that kind of pressure before bursting. 2) “honeycomb of bone” is this bone ACTUALLY cartilage, cus’ if it’s 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 can’t 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 can’t imagine this ever evolving into a larger species. the kinda gliding that evolved for draco volans works cus they’re actively climbing about on trees and they needed better ways to get from one tree to another. Dickinson says (again, from the wiki), “dragons evolved from dinosaurs that were hyper-modified to allow powered flight despite being very large,” key phrase here, “despite being very large”, which implies that his dragons evolved from the BIG dinos. big dinos DIDN’T climb. if someone has information that conflicts w/ this statement, plz tell me, cus’ 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, they’d have no need to be able to fly, or even glide
all-in-all, it’s 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 doesn’t 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 isn’t the full book, so if there’s anything here about the theory I got wrong, plz tell me so I may be able to properly review it
