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Description

Draconology © VikasRao

Please do not copy, redistribute, reference, trace, reuse, alter or modify for your own use without my prior permission, thank you!

If you thought dragons were jerks to mammals, think again, because they're even bigger jerks to other dragons! Also, this is a preview of sorts for what I plan to do for #junicorn , which should be up by the end of the month. In the meantime, if anyone's got ideas for mythical one-horned creatures, drop'em below and I'll see which ones I can include.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Dawn in the western reaches of the Eurasian mammoth steppe, the body of an old bull indrik (Taurovis sibericum), a victim of the passage of time, lies still in the grass.

However, no carcass, particularly one this size, goes unnoticed for long in the steppe.

A pair of European crested dragons (Eudrakon occidentalis), having followed the scent of rotting meat, quickly realize that they aren't the first ones to arrive at the table.

An adult female Eurasian mountain devil (Magnadrakon imperiosus), who has beaten them to the feast, asserts her dominance over the newcomers. Rearing up and spreading her massive 13 m wings, she makes it abundantly clear that there's a hierarchy to be followed here. Moreover, she is not alone. A small group of wargs (Crocuta adamanteus), who have formed an association with this particular individual, act as her enforcers.

Although the 2 European crested dragons could've otherwise worn out the larger mountain devil had she been alone, the wargs have comparable stamina, and a bite strong enough to shatter a dragon's skull or wings. With limited options, the dragons decide to give the devil its due.

The Eurasian mountain devil is a magnadraconine eudraconid, and the largest dragon in Eurasia and one of the largest extant dragon species. One of the apex predators of the mammoth steppe, this dragon is, as with most predators, opportunistic, and is just as likely to scavenge or kleptoparasitize as it is to actively hunt. Most prey taken is in the range of 200–800 kg, which includes reindeer and antelope to horses to young bison, and rhino and mammoth calves. This is below the size range of prey taken by scimitar cats, and broadly overlaps with the prey bases of wolves and other canids as well as steppe lions. However, the abundance of prey and the different feeding habits and/or activity patterns of the 3 predators (lions being largely nocturnal while canids have more flexible strategies and/or prey) means that competition is usually manageable.

The European crested dragon is a eudraconine eudraconid, and the type species of the Eudraconidae and Eudraconia (true dragons) as a whole. With a 6–7.5 m wingspan, these are roughly only half the size of a mountain devil, but are in fact the second largest dragon species in their range, which overlaps almost entirely with the western extent of the Eurasian mountain devil's. The main reason for this disparity in size is the latter species' ontogeny. As with other large dragons, mountain devils go through an ontogenic shift, with subadults being similar in size to the European crested dragon and filling a similar niche, with the only major difference being that they prefer more open, treeless habitats and mostly hunt at dawn or dusk, unlike the more cathemeral or sometimes nocturnal crested dragon. Crested dragons typically take small or at most medium-sized prey, with wild sheep, saiga antelope, and average-sized reindeer representing the upper size limit of prey that a lone individual will take. Although not strictly social, siblings will tend to stay and hunt together until they reach maturity, and while they aren't monogamous, a breeding pair that is able to function well together in a region with large prey will often stay together outside the breeding season, occasionally meeting up to take on larger prey such as wild horses, red deer, elk, and occasionally moose. They have one of the highest stamina levels of all dragons, a trait that serves them well in both hunting as well as kleptoparasitizing the kills of other predators. While adult mountain devils are larger and more aggressive, a pair of crested dragons can use their agility and stamina to wear one out and eventually annoy it to the point of abandoning a kill. This may be another reason for why mountain devils often associate with wargs or sometimes canids, whose stamina is comparable to that of these smaller, but tenacious, dragons.

The indrik is a large ovibovinin bovid related to muskoxen and a descendant of Tsaidamotherium. Similar to its ancestor, the genus has asymmetrical horns, with the right horn being greatly enlarged to form a massive horn (upto 1.5 m in large bulls) and the left being little more than a stub. At 3-4 m in length and weighing 900–1500 kg, indrik are similar in size to steppe bison and nearly twice the size of the average muskox, though its dense woolly coat makes it appear larger than it actually is. Indrik generally travel in small family groups of 10–20 animals, though old bulls are typically solitary.

Wargs, also called giant steppe hyenas due to their size, are large hyenas that are closely related to spotted hyenas of Africa and southern Asia. At roughly 1.2 m tall and weighing 100–110 kg, this species is roughly twice the size of the spotted hyena, and comparable to the extinct short-faced hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris) in size, though they have proportionately longer legs as an adaptation to cover large distances on the steppe. As with the spotted hyena, female wargs are larger than males, but this species is much less social than its smaller relative, and typically lives in small groups of 2-7. Although extremely efficient megafaunal hunters, wargs often shadow other predators such as scimitar cats and dragons. This is because both these predators cannot feed on bone or other tougher parts of a carcass, while the hyenas can. While the cats have a generally low tolerance for them, dragons such as mountain devils often associate with warg clans. The wargs feed on burnt leftovers of dragon kills, while the dragons often follow wargs, whose sense of smell is superior to their own, to find prey during conditions of poor visibility. On rare occasions, mountain devils and wargs will co-operate to hunt large game. The wargs chase the prey to exhaustion at which point the dragon uses its fire to quickly incapacitate and then kill it.

Although nomadic, wargs have been known to set up temporary dens in close proximity to the lairs of breeding adults. This seems to be mainly to take advantage of discarded bones and other leftovers, but clans that have formed long-term associations with a particular female have been known to double as "guard hyenas" and either warn or fend off other predators if they get too close to the lair. Such associations can be so strong that the wargs may be considered as the dragons' pets, in a loose sense of the word.

Draconology: True dragons pt 1
Draconology: The Draconimorpha
World of Draconology

Description

Draconology © VikasRao

Please do not copy, redistribute, reference, trace, reuse, alter or modify for your own use without my prior permission, thank you!

If you thought dragons were jerks to mammals, think again, because they're even bigger jerks to other dragons! Also, this is a preview of sorts for what I plan to do for #junicorn , which should be up by the end of the month. In the meantime, if anyone's got ideas for mythical one-horned creatures, drop'em below and I'll see which ones I can include.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Dawn in the western reaches of the Eurasian mammoth steppe, the body of an old bull indrik (Taurovis sibericum), a victim of the passage of time, lies still in the grass.

However, no carcass, particularly one this size, goes unnoticed for long in the steppe.

A pair of European crested dragons (Eudrakon occidentalis), having followed the scent of rotting meat, quickly realize that they aren't the first ones to arrive at the table.

An adult female Eurasian mountain devil (Magnadrakon imperiosus), who has beaten them to the feast, asserts her dominance over the newcomers. Rearing up and spreading her massive 13 m wings, she makes it abundantly clear that there's a hierarchy to be followed here. Moreover, she is not alone. A small group of wargs (Crocuta adamanteus), who have formed an association with this particular individual, act as her enforcers.

Although the 2 European crested dragons could've otherwise worn out the larger mountain devil had she been alone, the wargs have comparable stamina, and a bite strong enough to shatter a dragon's skull or wings. With limited options, the dragons decide to give the devil its due.

The Eurasian mountain devil is a magnadraconine eudraconid, and the largest dragon in Eurasia and one of the largest extant dragon species. One of the apex predators of the mammoth steppe, this dragon is, as with most predators, opportunistic, and is just as likely to scavenge or kleptoparasitize as it is to actively hunt. Most prey taken is in the range of 200–800 kg, which includes reindeer and antelope to horses to young bison, and rhino and mammoth calves. This is below the size range of prey taken by scimitar cats, and broadly overlaps with the prey bases of wolves and other canids as well as steppe lions. However, the abundance of prey and the different feeding habits and/or activity patterns of the 3 predators (lions being largely nocturnal while canids have more flexible strategies and/or prey) means that competition is usually manageable.

The European crested dragon is a eudraconine eudraconid, and the type species of the Eudraconidae and Eudraconia (true dragons) as a whole. With a 6–7.5 m wingspan, these are roughly only half the size of a mountain devil, but are in fact the second largest dragon species in their range, which overlaps almost entirely with the western extent of the Eurasian mountain devil's. The main reason for this disparity in size is the latter species' ontogeny. As with other large dragons, mountain devils go through an ontogenic shift, with subadults being similar in size to the European crested dragon and filling a similar niche, with the only major difference being that they prefer more open, treeless habitats and mostly hunt at dawn or dusk, unlike the more cathemeral or sometimes nocturnal crested dragon. Crested dragons typically take small or at most medium-sized prey, with wild sheep, saiga antelope, and average-sized reindeer representing the upper size limit of prey that a lone individual will take. Although not strictly social, siblings will tend to stay and hunt together until they reach maturity, and while they aren't monogamous, a breeding pair that is able to function well together in a region with large prey will often stay together outside the breeding season, occasionally meeting up to take on larger prey such as wild horses, red deer, elk, and occasionally moose. They have one of the highest stamina levels of all dragons, a trait that serves them well in both hunting as well as kleptoparasitizing the kills of other predators. While adult mountain devils are larger and more aggressive, a pair of crested dragons can use their agility and stamina to wear one out and eventually annoy it to the point of abandoning a kill. This may be another reason for why mountain devils often associate with wargs or sometimes canids, whose stamina is comparable to that of these smaller, but tenacious, dragons.

The indrik is a large ovibovinin bovid related to muskoxen and a descendant of Tsaidamotherium. Similar to its ancestor, the genus has asymmetrical horns, with the right horn being greatly enlarged to form a massive horn (upto 1.5 m in large bulls) and the left being little more than a stub. At 3-4 m in length and weighing 900–1500 kg, indrik are similar in size to steppe bison and nearly twice the size of the average muskox, though its dense woolly coat makes it appear larger than it actually is. Indrik generally travel in small family groups of 10–20 animals, though old bulls are typically solitary.

Wargs, also called giant steppe hyenas due to their size, are large hyenas that are closely related to spotted hyenas of Africa and southern Asia. At roughly 1.2 m tall and weighing 100–110 kg, this species is roughly twice the size of the spotted hyena, and comparable to the extinct short-faced hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris) in size, though they have proportionately longer legs as an adaptation to cover large distances on the steppe. As with the spotted hyena, female wargs are larger than males, but this species is much less social than its smaller relative, and typically lives in small groups of 2-7. Although extremely efficient megafaunal hunters, wargs often shadow other predators such as scimitar cats and dragons. This is because both these predators cannot feed on bone or other tougher parts of a carcass, while the hyenas can. While the cats have a generally low tolerance for them, dragons such as mountain devils often associate with warg clans. The wargs feed on burnt leftovers of dragon kills, while the dragons often follow wargs, whose sense of smell is superior to their own, to find prey during conditions of poor visibility. On rare occasions, mountain devils and wargs will co-operate to hunt large game. The wargs chase the prey to exhaustion at which point the dragon uses its fire to quickly incapacitate and then kill it.

Although nomadic, wargs have been known to set up temporary dens in close proximity to the lairs of breeding adults. This seems to be mainly to take advantage of discarded bones and other leftovers, but clans that have formed long-term associations with a particular female have been known to double as "guard hyenas" and either warn or fend off other predators if they get too close to the lair. Such associations can be so strong that the wargs may be considered as the dragons' pets, in a loose sense of the word.

Draconology: True dragons pt 1
Draconology: The Draconimorpha
World of Draconology