So an election happened here in the States. I’m aware of it.
More importantly, I managed to keep busy (a lot of which involved voting in said election; this year the polling places were a little more crowded than usual due to the city still shaking off the water from last week’s storm) to the point where I didn’t get to pick up my copy of The Flight of Dragons and actually read some of the physical descriptions, so instead, I just used what I remembered (mostly from the movie) and applied my own understanding of biology to it.
According to Wikipedia,
“The dragon’s ribs, no longer needed to support the thorax (which was now heavily modified, and supported by its own gas pressure and a light but sturdy ‘honeycomb’ of bone) had become wing-like structures, allowing powered flight.”
I couldn’t really reconcile that, but perhaps I will when I get to look at a reference. So instead, my dragon has a short ribcage and pronounced shoulder blades, because I was having a hard time imagining anything that was capable of powered flight without a breastbone. There is also probably more pelvis than is absolutely necessary- the pelvis and ribcage almost form “caps” on the inflated midsection.
You can see in the small sketch to the left that I tried to imagine what the dragon might look like on the ground, and I kept the limbs splayed in a more reptilian stance, though Dickinson proposes that the dragon might have evolved from a dinosaur, which in most cases would actually allow for upright limbs. I’m still undecided which way to go, though considering that the Dickensonian model evolved lighter-than-air flight, its thrusting power (ie: jumping into the air and struggling to gain altitude) becomes less important, so having its legs directly underneath isn’t necessary the way it is for a standard-issue dragon.
Anyhow, I ought to be going to bed, because it’s late, and I want to make sure I can do some reference checking tomorrow.
