Science of Dragons
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- Опубліковано 18 лип 2015
- Dragons are stuff of myth and fantasy... or are they?
Join me as we examine the scientific plausibility of dragons! We will answer questions like: Did something like a dragon once exist? and Could something really breath fire?
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-Dragon Anatomy - Skeleton by UberKudzu (uberkudzu.deviantart.com)
- Yi qi by Emily Willoughby (emilywilloughby.com)
- Yi qi by John Conway (johnconway.co)
- Basilisk V, Yi Qi Based by KingOvRats (kingovrats.deviantart.com/)
- Yi Qi Descendent, Alternate Bird by KingOvRats (kingovrats.deviantart.com/)
-Mother Of Scansoriopterygids by ChrisMasna (chrismasna.deviantart.com/)
-Hexapod tree of life by YamiGriffin (yamigriffin.deviantart.com)
-Hexapodal Spinosaurus by GaffaMondo (gaffamondo.deviantart.com)
-Dragon wings by Rotten-Alice (rotten-alice.deviantart.com)
-Dragon Rider by Deligaris (deligaris.deviantart.com)
Gliding snake clip - www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vhgC...
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For those saying: "couldn't a dragon just possess electric producing organs similar to an electric eel?" you are mistaken. There is a difference between electricity and an electric spark. Electricity is different than an electric spark. Electricity is simply the flow of an electric charge. An electric spark is an abrupt electrical discharge that occurs when a sufficiently high electric field creates an ionized, electrically conductivechannel through a normally-insulating medium, often air or other gases or gas mixtures. They are not the same thing. - Наука та технологія
So that's why Spyro the Dragon collects gems, they're piezoelectric crystals that he needs for his fire breath! Maybe that's also why dragons in general are known to hoarde treasure, they eat the gems!
Nah he just doesn’t trust banks
Awesome lore
They could eat iron pyrite, known by some as fool's gold, which when struck with steel, causes a spark, hence gold
myneckhurts it’s called fools gold because in the dark mines it’s hard to tell the difference. Nothing to do with the spark.
@@gergs988 thanks i guess
I feel like if dragons existed, they'd spit fire more than breath it, like spitting napalm.
That is quite accurate.
Fire breath, napalm snot
@@aidanmiller5129 *sneezes*
*explodes*
One fictional world author realized this :: there, dragons breathe out merely used air, like I do, and the fire-jet came from another source.
I read of a fire-breathing human (real, not trick) :: a parson's breath caught fire when he blew altar candles out :: the cause was inflammable gas from a stomach ulcer:: an operation cured it.
My personal favorite explanation for how dragons could've theoretically made their way into folklore is that passed down in our memory over the generations was our early ancestors' fear of snakes and eagles/hawks, and combined the two
And when you give dragons our mastery of fire, then you create a true monster.
However, our forebears in Europe, Iceland and of course JRR Tolkein called them worms. Which brings the electric eel to play moreso.
That, combined with legends of found fossils of dinosaurs 👀
I always wondered if it had anything to do with a misinterpretation of fossilized dinosaurs.
@@roberthouston6562 isn't it wyrms?
This video in a nutshell:
y i q i
Yiqi
Cocka-t r a c e
it was a yiqi owl
The answer to all of life's problems
I saw this comment before watching the video and it made it 10X better
2:35 I always find it funny that dragon skeletons never have large breastbones, as they are a flight adaptation
Same honestly, they'd need to have a keel to even think about flying
@@Lara-234 Ehhh....bats don't really have a proper keel and they fly. Though to be fair a dragon would be closer to a bird than a bat, since they're generally placed somewhere on the dinosaur family tree
Amy bats are weird lol. Also the Brazilian free tail bat (I think that’s it’s name) is the fastest self powered animal! Peregrine falcons can dive faster but nothing else can keep up in straight line speed
You're right but what is so funny?
@@sametsahin6863
They're saying it's funny how no one's ever thought to make their Dragon skeleton more believable and add in an essential part of any flying animal's anatomy. So many people try and make realistic depictions of how a Dragons skeletal features would look, yet very few if any at all ever add in such a key part of it.
so you are telling me that the only way dragons could breathe fire is by farting though their mouth and then lighting it on fire with a rock?
yes
@@milobooger bruh
Perhaps more complex natural systems could be in place, but those systems would be rather impractical.
@@purplehaze2358 well many animals can and need to regurgitate their food to complete digestion. Is it not possible that these dragons are just barfing up what they ate little by little?
With the whole mineral theory, its possible that it isnt that they "breathe" fire but most likely they projectile vomit them. The ignition wont take place inside as well for that to happen.
Well,there is the bombardier beetle who uses acompletely different mechanism to launch a scalding hot caustic liquid.IF dragons had the same glans inside their mouths,or even their fangs like spitting snakes,they could fire-breath like that.\
They could even develop hypergolic fuels like hydrazine and dinitrogen dioxide from ammonia and nitrogen dioxide,store into high specializes organs(as hydrazine is super-toxic to most creatures) which would protect the animal,then squeeze the glans really hard.No spark needed,the moment those two liquids contact each other,FIRE!
Trey: Yi Qi
Auto-generated English: *sweats*
E E G
Pee
ye Chi
22:47 Trey: "highly specialized and extremely unlikely and extremely implausible to evolve by natural means."
Bombardier beetle: "Hold my hot, noxious chemical spray."
what a comparison... that's more like shitting than breathing.. even we could evolve that on a long trail
@@glennsommer8901 Well, remind me not to stand next to you in an elevator. Ever. If you honestly think those two body processes are even remotely similar, there must be some truly toxic fumes at work there...
@@Alexander_Kale well.. luckily I was only joking, but I guess it does kind of run in the family.. you know, serving up meals with beans and such
More like
"Hold my sh*t"
@@glennsommer8901 Insects breathe through the skin, so its both
What if the dragon legends come from time travelling pranksters in jets?
Dragons combine the fear of humanity: big mouth, Reptiles, Flying Creatures and Fire
My goal for the future: invent timetravel, go back in time and blow up some ancient humans
@@thanatos5729 try not to rip open space and time and creating a paradox
@@pluggothesluggo5509 we live in multiple parallel realities anyways
@@JonkoJointson pRoOvE iT
Re. Serpentine dragons: Historically, Asians thought of the firmament as being more like water than air. One theory for why Asian dragons don't need wings, and move the way they do, is is that they are essentially swimming.
Yeah that makes sense ! I’m also surprised he didn’t discuss water dragons at all… I’ve always thought they were the most realistic dragon concept.
@@elizabethbentley2582 That's also true, fore breathing flying dragons probs wouldn't exist. Aquatic dragons could on the other hand, we already have huge sea reptiles and mammals so an aquatic dragon isn't that unbelievable.
They light n use wind or humid water
swimming in the air? that doesnt even make sense
@@cjvaye99 They were associated with water and thunder storms. So maybe they could just get into a huge storm to fly and maybe they evolved in a way that storm doesn't hurt them
Gliding snake: Exists
Me: Now this is an avengers level threat
I read a very good book once on “dragonology.” The book covered how all forms of dragons all across the world could have lived, their anatomy, and even small details like what they could have ate and how they might have raised their young. It was a very good book, I highly recommend it.
Book name?
@@treeonahill3557 probably Dragonology by Ernest Drake
You really like this Yi Qi guy, don't you? :D
Do you mean yi Ji
angieway1000 no, Yi qi, a dinosaur-bird transitional
Who doesn't?
Yi-qi is fucking awesome, and if it could get bigger it would be an even more incredible creature
YetAnotherRandomUA-camChannel wee-verns
For those saying: "couldn't a dragon just possess electric producing organs similar to an electric eel?" you are mistaken. There is a difference between electricity and an electric spark. Electricity is different than an electric spark. Electricity is simply the flow of an electric charge. An electric spark is an abrupt electrical discharge that occurs when a sufficiently high electric field creates an ionized, electrically conductivechannel through a normally-insulating medium, often air or other gases or gas mixtures. They are not the same thing.
I love the part with the brief understanding of the 4 leg 2 wing dragons. There really can't be an animal with that many lims other then insects or spiders.
Do you believe in evolution, in a video u sayd that u dont?
grgur kraljević Does it matter?
I guess it does, dont take this the wrong way your channel more than anything else but the theory of evolution is one of the ost correct theory that ever existed, and you sometimes talk about it as you are a pro at it. It just confuses me.
I mean i love your channel more than any other channel in that wired part.
I'm disappointed. I was expecting you to bring up bombardier beetles, but you didn't! THEY LITERALLY SH*T FIRE WHEN THREATENED!
it isn't fire :(
You have to be a reptile to be a dragon.
@@thespookyvaginosisnut5984 but he says in the beginning of the video "can any creature produce fire"
Its not fire. Its actually a mixture of chemicals that cause a burning sensation when fired
@@thespookyvaginosisnut5984 not the dragons i made
20:50
Chickens have minerals inside them soooo....
Is that why they are so powerful in skyrim?
yes
Ýë§
so don't people! have minerals in their bodies!
@@lindanorris2455 refering to the sandy stuff chicken use the destroy the food since teeth and chicken don't combiner well
Instead of swallowing stones to light the fuel, couldn't an animal produce some kind of electrical spark? Like electric eels, but in a more specialized way?
That would be the easiest way to explain the fire breathing. It's more likely than using the stones.
I saw a documentary about a team of biologists who found what was believed to be an actual dragon. It had wings, the whole body was pretty light (allowing for flight) and they found chemicals in the glands near the throat which could produce fire. I'm going to try and find it for reference but it was actually pretty convincing.
@@richardmartinez543 It was a mockumentary, but a very well-made one. I saw it, too, a couple of years back.
@@cayreet5992 Ah no! Lol well, I wonder if I wish hard enough it could remain truth :p jk, thanks for letting me know. I like to think I'm good for fact checking but I see I have to be more on it. Cheers!
Richard Martinez ua-cam.com/video/GXOUIVJXE5I/v-deo.html heres a cool video about dragons u may like , it kinda gives a spiritual perspective
Special note: I mistakenly said Yi qi possessed an elongated fourth finger; this is false, it is actually an elongated wrist bone
My question is: How would an animal find Piezoelectriccrystals? Are they common on the ground or would the creature have to mine for the crystals?
Ola - Conny Berlinite , cane sugar, quartz, Rochelle salt, topaz, and tourmaline are piezo electric crystals they can be found on the surface
harikrishna manoj that is toxic chemicals; not fire.
TREY the Explainer Now, better ;)
TREY the Explainer well there are the winged cat from turkey, which have 6 limbs, it/they said they were hunted down because a winged cats are bringer of bad luck.
everybody gangsta until the snake starts flying
I really thought that part of dragons made real with the frozen dragon carcass was actual fact when i was a kid, shows how optimistic you are as a child. Just wanting the world to be fantastical and happy
I am so taken aback by the fact that fire breathing in animals is actually plausible. I kept waiting for you to get to a part where you'd show it to be impossible.
HoopsAndDinoMan
Bombardier beetle is probably the closet thing any animal will ever get. Still, that's pretty fucking close.
No, the closest thing would be a human breathing fire like you see in carnivals. If a human could do that, a large, intelligent dragon could do it even better.
What's your next review gonna be?
HoopsAndDinoMan fire is just chemistry. Your brain is far more complicated chemistry than fire
Biologically possible, but not plausible, especially from any kind of evolutionary standpoint.
Probably my favorite explanation for dragon fire is that in the movie Reign of Fire. In the movie dragons have glands at the back of the throat that combines chemicals that when sprayed causes an explosive gout of flame.
#bombadearbeetle
+CryptoDragon UK I believe that the solution to the burn problem would be a) they would develop thick skin around the mouth area so they wouldn't get scalded by the flames, b) they would develop a tolerance, or c) the orifices where the poison used to fuel the fire are expelled are positioned near the front of the mouth.
In the dragonology books, the dragons have a small, muscular pouch in their cheeks that they can put flint into. When they open their mouths, they can squeeze the flint together to create a spark, igniting the gas they release
Zacattack Games8
Ya, potentially it could work like bombardier beetles, though for the people saying wouldn't that burn the dragons mouth? Ya, bombardier beetles have been found with burns and even burnt off limbs.
i had the same idea
The flight of dragons explains this and has it where "dragons" ingest sand stone to use the gas from the reaction with stomach acid for flight and flame breath. But I think a dragon could use a strong bio electric shock(i.e electric eels) to make the "spark".
dragon riders of pern
@@randyclarke7804 Ah, good ol firestone. The gas produced by those dragons spontaneously combusts.
One thing that could work is a couple of mineralized bones/teeth/scales inside the mouth that could be struck against eachother to produce a spark, like a flint stone.
the most plausible "real" version of a dragon I've seen someone dream up would've been about the size of a small deer (the biggest the person designing the concept could reasonably justify it still having wings at). and, funnily enough, had a heck of a craving for fruit and the like since it needs lots of materials from them for producing natural napalm.
they had come up with several variations on the basic bodyplan and toolkit (requirements were hexapedal with wings and the ability to breathe fire) that could fit into a few different niches ranging from smaller full-on fliers to groundbound large animals that retain small wings since they are still helpful for swimming. the most plausible was an agile omnivore around the size of a small deer mechanically capable of decent flight but would most likely only do so in short bursts of augmented jumping for maneuvering...wish I could remember where I saw this, it's gone so fuzzy that when I try to pull up details I genuinely can't tell the difference between remembering them and making them up, last time I saw the source material I was something like 8 years old.
I despise the fact that Dragons are always shown to be evil monsters that gets killed in stories and fairy tales!
We need more benevolent Dragons like Spyro or a film where the protagonist is a Dragon, which tries to kill the evil, selfish princess that abuses her power.
StupendousRex 65 What does that mean?
StupendousRex 65 Is that a Pirates of the Caribbean meme?
That would be awesome.
Eragon, dragon heart, dragon heart 2, and dragon heart 3. All had heroic dragons :3
Spike isn't evil
Asian dragons actually have their roots in crocodiles; long bodies, four limbs, associated with water, and usually not a danger to humans unless provoked? Crocodiles.
MemoryPhaseStudios But they are also godlike.
Alex Shi So...they are Sobek?
no.... the origin is snake. You can take a look at the mythology and the evolution of Chinese dragons. They started as snakes and gradually developed over time.
No really they have crocs over there an an own Word for crocs so that wouldn´t be possible.
Both European and Asian dragons were heavily influenced by snakes and crocodiles. The four legged winged western dragon we know today is only one type of dragon that showed up in European folklore, and not even the most prominent. Most of them were very serpentine and not all had wings. It's also often theorized that the creature St. George (if he existed) may have killed was a wayward crocodile.
This is the most nerdiest video to ever be in my recommendations but I clicked anyway
Lmao
funfact: Ultrasound machines use these same piezoelectric crystals for the probes in medical imaging.
this video really does DRAG ON
Bud
Um
Tiss
I came here to say that. Trey needs to proofread his script, possibly have someone proofread it for him. Remove the redundant statements. There's no need to say the exact same thing in multiple ways. You know, like this, Like I'm doing here. It's pointless and adds nothing but length.
Macumazahn this was made 4 years ago **cough cough**
@@burtan2000 You don't seem to understand that he was joking...
@@SPAD-90.00 Okay...? I'm sorry, I don't see the importance. Do you mean to imply that we should expect lower quality in older videos? Eugene InLaw's comment is only 10 months old. And yours is only one month. Are we in the future? Should we warn Trey about the horrors of 2016?
Well we created pugs, maybe we could create dragons XP
Gamesforus Lol
Gamesforus Did we? (Sorry if I'm retarded)
Through dog breeding
"We have the technology."
"He'l be better than he was before!"
Ever considered doing a video on scientifically plausible mermaids? I’d love to see a video on that!
So Dragons are technically mouth farters?
Be careful you might upset Fing Fang Foom
I personally like the idea that dragons are capable of creating a pyrophoric liquid that they can expel at high pressure.
Not likely to be in the throat. It would be more likely to be an adaptation of the saliva glands in the cheeks, and rather than expelling gases it would more likely be two liquids expelled under pressure from the cheeks and jaw muscles.
I'm partial to the idea found in another series that I am looking for atm, It was explained that a dragon could use a method similar to the bombardier beetle to spit chemical mix that burns like white fire.
jeff... that was on a mocumentary where they acted as if they found a preserved dragon ice cycle lol i forget the name but its from a major network same ones who did the mermaid mocumentary
you gotta read "dragonology" it explains everything trust me
Like a bombardier beetle!
So in summary:Dragons would have bad breath
From what I've heard of Komodo dragons, that sounds about right.
Every large predatory reptile has bread breathe
Just look at dogs. We are the only race to brush our teeth
Sunkem, I am 99.9% sure that is true.
We are but 1 Comodo dragon eating the wrong crystal away from having a real problem on our hands.
An old cartoon movie Flight of Dragons, it gave explanations of fire breathing and their fondness for gold.
I would like to know more about how the fire-breathing myth itself evolved.
Well of course this is all speculation but Dragons were often not only feared but also respected and worshipped in some sense, large scale natural disasters could only be explained at the time by supernatural interventions. Everything from Wildfires to lightning could have been believed to be the fiery wrath of a dragon hiding in rainclouds or getting too worked up in his forest home. The thunderous roars could have been just that, and the overwhelming sound of their massive wings could simply be a heavy storm. This knowledge is fairly recent and seems obvious to us now, but a few hundred years ago it would be blasphemy. Oftentimes myths can be explained by looking through the eyes of a paranoid half drunk crackpot who thought the masses needed to hear his opinion
@@ravioli8156 Thanks! Wildfire, lightning, thunder, and such natural phenomenon mythologized! I would give our ancients a bit more credit than paranoid drunks, though! ; - )
I think it's possible that a hexapod dragon could evolve in our current world. If flying lizards are able to glide by extending their ribs and flattening their bodies, genetic mutations could occur in which they could evolve membranes to replace the need to flatten themselves and the foremost pair of ribs could become separate from the others and be the leading wing edge. Over time, these rudimentary wings could elongate, develop digits, and gain the muscles necessary for powered flight. It's unlikely they'd be bat-like but instead resemble something like shorter pterosaur wings without the "hands" to walk on. Size-wise, they might only be able to get as large as monitors, going from a diet of insects to smaller mammals, lizards, and possibly birds.
Also there are genetic mutations in animals and humans, where the subject grows more fingers or limbs than is usual. If it was evolutionary advantage it would spread through the population.
You could also just genetically modify an animal embryo to have all the necessary features, and maybe create bones of graphene to reduce weight and have an easier time flying.
I have done the math and having 25 m^2 wing area with 3.5 grams per cm^2 average wing weight, and torso weight similar to a lion (1775.067 N), and a takeoff speed of 58 mph (26 m/s).
yeah why not have six limb dragons when we have spiders?
Epic
There's already a lizard with wings, it just doesn't have powered flight, it's called a Draco lizard.
what if they existed but were all killed by The Dragonborn
Christian Quiles Dragons aren't just coming back... ...they're coming back to life. Only the Dovahkiin can save us
KREN ROSAAL!
Christian Quiles Thankyou, this comment actually made me smile XD
CryptoDragon UK yeah it's a great game isn't it? :)
whats that?
I've always considered lindwurms and wyrms in general a type of dragon. There are also dragons in ancient Greek mythology that were very large and had no wings
I feel like regular western dragons could eventually evolve from gliding lizards, albeit much smaller.
Gliding Lizards can eventually develop more muscle in their skin flaps. The wings wouldn't be the typical of a regular dragon, however I feel like they could eventually evolve into viable wings... idk that might just be me.
I also disagree that ALL life needs to have evolved from a 6 limbed ancestor. Spontaneous evolution is possible, thats how everything changes in the first place. It's just unlikely for it to be on such a large scale. The gliding lizard is a perfect example. With enough time those little gliding "fins" could develop more muscle and become two more limbs. It could develop more muscle originally due to the need for more gliding control and support for continually larger fins. So I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. (Although I admit that the "fins" being basically the ribcage makes things more complicated...)
Simple fix for that: use some ribs as wings, and other ribs as ribs
@@Amy_the_Lizard 10000000iq move their sir
That's what I thought too, but I recently came to the conclusion that to be more effective, the bones that support the wing should be attached to one or more very close points. This is possible if the bones supporting the "protowing" are modified osteoderms.
If you have ever seen How to Train Your Dragon, you know that they classify the dragons by their behaviors. I think a fun video would be you classifying them the same way biologists classify real animals, by comparing physical traits and trying to fit them together into a family tree.
Stormcutters and Night Furies are definitely in the same clade, as they have many features that make them resemble eachother.
I`m all for it!
You should check out AronRa's video, called Draxonomy
I've actually seen some really interesting images of that exact premise, a family tree of dragons.
I actually came hear after watching httyd wondering if how they say dinosaurs and mabey dragons went extinct how did Chinese, Europeans, etc draw dragons very similar
An example of theoretically possible dragon:
* Has four limbs
* Lightweight
* Forelimbs as wings
So a wyvern?
Asp the Wyvern, yes
Jasper Geli so... a bird?
@@bulletbill1104 yes
Do you mean pterosaur
I kept staring at my recommendation feed for half a minute before realizing that the dragon in this video's thumbnail was not, in fact, farting fire.
everybody gangsta till they realize dragons dont breathe fire, they exhale it
They fart it
So a dragon needs to have the ability of flight? Mythology and pop culture sometimes contain ground dwelling dragons or marine dragons.
The Leviathan is a sea monster that appears in both Christian and Jewish culture. Some sources describe or depict it as a fish while others refer to it as a serpentine dragon-like creature. I guess a giant mosasaur would best fit that description.
Tolkiens writings contain both flying and ground dwelling dragons. Some are capable of breathing fire while the lesser ones aren't. Glaurung was a giant ground dwelling dragon that could talk, breath fire and hypnotize people. Aside from those special abilities and size monitor lizards fit the description perfectly. Some humans may have encountered giant monitors like Megalania.
The dragon Sigurd from Norse mythology is also commonly depicted as flightless. This creature is further known to have influenced Tolkien.
Yes please, do more of these.
Hydras, Chimeras, Manticores, but especially Griffins (which are, I guess, in the "six limbed impossible vertebrates"...), but also some of the lesser known kinds, or lesser thought of as monsters, like vampires.
Even if all these monsters are mythical exagerations of mankind's own beliefs on the world (kinda like the Amazons were a humurous or dreadful exaggeration of the Greek worldview where women rule and are great warriors, which was absurd to the regular Joe-andros), it's a fun game to play.
Joe-andros lmao
The amazons were real. They managed to survive for a long time.
I love that you explore the potential science behind fantastic or creative creatures. It is my belief that all folklore/ mythology has some level of factual basis, and the imagination literally can work wonders. This sort of discussion supports my opinion, and gives me more to think about.
18:46
The Bombardier Beetle And Its Crazy Chemical Fire out of it's butt
Or
as a dragon out of it's face...
1:37 You left amphitheres (Serpent like, two wings, no legs). They are just as prolific as the other morphological types. Also most of the historical artwork for draco/drakes don't show what look like true wings, but something much closer to the real world equivalent. If going off Hollywood dragons, correct, it makes no sense. If going off how they actually drew them in manuscripts and such for the larger part of European history, it's much more plausible.
Why is this comment placed between a comment with 123 likes and 525 likes if it only has 16?
@@purplehaze2358 h
Yeah you really cant use paintings as references but written down descriptions.
Most visual works incorporate symbols to tell a story. Wings may be added to say that its capable of air movement whether its flight or glide.
Fins can mean that it can go in water and have mobility.
Legs to be able to traverse land.
Not necessarily mean that they all have these limbs but to say they have air or water or land traversal capabilities.
I mean in early works, the disk thing (halo) often depicts someone of a higher stature. You wouldnt see jesus with a halo so we cant really expect some of these dragons do have these limbs or characteristics.
Some may have feathers, some may have scales, some may have exoskeletons.
Mythical creatures are derived from a real counterpart. I mean take a look at a unicorn (horse with a horn). If anything, it couldve been a moose/deer that have been caught in a glance in a certain angle and misinterpreted as a horse with a horn.
@@wanderingbufoon elasmotherium the real unicorn survived well into the history of civilization
shaw miserix
Really?
Hey, you forgot something. Technically, a more accurate version of the Asian dragon(with legs) is possible. (And to an extent, hexipodal dragons). Somewhat extreme genetic mutation, there have actually been cases of snakes mutating full legs, and many other cases of other animals mutating many extra limbs. If, by some chance, these mutations occured somewhere along the evolutionary chain, the extra limbs happened to be funtional, and the mutation asserted itself as a dominant gene. These dragons could have occured naturally, although extremely unlikely, it seems theoretically possible, mutation is how evolution happens after all. Please send a response. Thnx.
you still didn't got you response XD
Absurdness becoming more relevant nowadays
I'm having trouble finding examples of snakes with mutations that cause them to have legs. Are you thinking of snake-like lizards? There are lizards, like skinks, with snake-like bodies that have either small legs or just vestigial legs, but they're not snakes. Also, snakes used to have legs and still have the genes necessary to develop them (although they're probably heavily mutated by now from a lack of selection pressure), but the expression simply isn't activated. A mutation could cause them to activate those genes.
It's possible for a tetrapod to grow extra limbs, but it would be unlikely for the limbs to do much more than flop around. We see this in humans who have extra limbs or digits: sometimes they're functional enough to be useful but that's the exception. And even if they did grow a functional pair of limbs, what are they going to use them for? Their bodies are designed for four limbs, so they might not be able to make enough use out of the extra limbs for them to be an advantage and get incorporated into the gene pool. Reasons like this might be why tetrapods have mostly stuck to the 4-limb approach during our entire evolution. We sometimes find it advantageous to lose limbs, but so far no one's got much benefit out of gaining them. This makes this pathway seem very unlikely
Contrary to your theory on dragon using pyroflatulence for fire breathing, it’s probably not methane but most likely primarily hydrogen. Such a typical dragon pyroflatulence will usually burn yellow or orange hue, however, if the dragon mouth fart has a blue flame, then this could be attributed to the expulsion having a high methane content, but the dragon would also need to feed significant amounts of fiber than charred meat.
like everybody said, Bombardier Beetles would be a better plausibility.
Hexapodal Dragons is possible with a mutation that is Hox Gene Duplication from a Wyvern...
yeah, i know Hox Gene duplication happened, in the 4th of neverary....
Kind of impressive how strongly conserved they are, isn't it?
@@stormisuedonym4599 Tardigrates had a Hox gene deletion,
but who had a hox gene duplication?
But they would probably suffer from this, they would not be able to fly because of the extra weight
I've never heard anyone pronounce wyvern like you do (weevern) I always hear wiv-ern or wai-vern. It's interesting.
In Germany we would also say 'weevern' or 'wüvern' depending on location
@@ace_bean7011 We're not speaking Deutsch. He's speaking English not Deutsch so wtf is your point?
@@diddykong7354 woha why so aggressive dude.
It was just a fun fact. Why would you even bother if you're not interested
@@diddykong7354 wtf dude
My favourite Nintendo console is the WIIvyrn
It angers me that he calls them WEverns
They also aren't dragons.
That is not a ninetendo console .
@@isis2523 whoosh.
What?
Can you imagine dragons with feathers? Because I would love to see that!
A macawwing
They’re real, and we called them Haast’s eagles.
I love how much thought was put into this video! I enjoyed it a lot 💕
Wait... for Wyverns, you say that Azdarchids don't fit the role because they have skin and pycnofibers, and no scales, but then you turn around and say that Yi qi is the closest thing to a wyvern even though it HAS SKIN AND FEATHERS BUT NO SCALES?
The Dark Troodon he said it couldn't be a pterosaur because they didn't have the same wing structure.
SCIENTISTS! DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING, AND MAKE DRAGONS! GET ON THAT GENETIC ENGINEERING, AND MAKE ME A FIRE BREATHING REPTILE! THIS MAN HAS PROVED IT COULD BE POSSIBLE FOR THEM TK EXIST! SO GET ON IT YA NERDS!
Tic tac
Think Jurassic Park and Reign of Fire
As cool as would be to see a living breathing Dragon there will be drawbacks
I recommend you read The Great Zoo of China. It's not the best book out there but it's the only one out there
It's basically Jurassic Park but with Dragons and they're not engineered
That would be cool but also playing with fire... we'd need to design them so they can be tamed if not domesticated and would need to do it in a way where the ecosystem isn't screwed up, at least do this on an island without a other landmass in its range of flight...
@@iskandordracos2248 Yeah let's give a wild animal the ability to breathe fire. I'm sure the forests will be fine.
Calling them nerds isn't going to convince them pal! Lol to be fair it probably wouldn't take much convincing to take scientists to not want to make dragons.
Probably just limited go budget and what one is capable of doing at this time.
That was my stated agenda for Bioinframatics.
5:27 Well bois, you know what time it is.
“Hey you, you’re finally awake.”
Thinking about it, Western "dragons" (generically) point much more to an avian animal (including the swallowing of flame-making minerals) then to a reptilian.
Another mythical avian that seems to have a direct correlation with fire is the phoenix.
This makes me wonder if both the phoenix and the dragon are descendants of an older mythical figure, maybe from the Indo-European cultural branch. 🤔
For the wyvern, what if the Yi Qi, instead of evolving, had a disease where they either COULDN'T have any hair like stuff/severe hairless, as well as producing to much growth hormone, with the entire flying thing being fabricated?
Yeah and the disease actually became beneficial to some individuals in specific environments and convergent evolution occurred
Sorry for the Late Comment, But I have a Response. Larger Dinosaurs such as Sauropods and Tyrannosaurs lack full Coats according to Recent Research due to not having to retain body heat through Feathers, instead having enough body-mass to retain heat. That is why I believe if Yi Qi evolved into massive sizes they would lose feathers.
Interesting theory, if unlikely.
Definitely makes sense, or maybe the avian scales evolved to be more reptilian through natural selection so they'd be tougher and in the process again more scales because if you have more scales you'd be more likely to be hit there and scales act as armor
what if their feathers are just burnt off by their fire-breathing habits?
I think the Asian dragon was like a living hot air balloon that has gas sack much like how birds have both a gizzard and a crop. And that used its tail and body to "swim" though the air.
Vexatron Primal It would have to be a very light animal.
Vexatron Primal maybe starts really shrivled and expands like a puffer fish lol.
Or maybe it dosn't fly at all, maybe it acts like a spring, coiling itself up and then jumping in the air, and once in the air, it would glide like the flying snake.
+Vexatron Primal for that too happen, then asian dragons will have to live on high mountains, have EXTREMELY hollow bones, and very very very MANY feathers. It could happen, but then the body will have to be small, smaller than the pictures and have sensors when the wind will change course. that actually will be very useful if it was an actual thing, then humans could know when is a good time to sail a masted ship if they have asian dragons as pets
+JadeKiwi That sounds beautiful!
Wow! Super interesting video!
I would have never thought it would be scientifically easier for an animal to breath fire than to have six limbs. That's incredible :D
Well hexapod dragons could exist,
Some mutations may cause additional limbs to form, and if these 6 limbed dragons managed to survive long enough and pass their mutation onto their offspring and so on, could allow for a new species of 6 limbed dragons to emerge and adapt.
21:11 Another thing that the dragon would need to evolve before is fireproof insides because yes, bereathing fire that way would probably burn you if you aren't resistent. At least that is what I am thinking. 22:37 Oh there we go
I think in a world where Orcs and Goblins and Wizards can exist, and therefore, Magic does, a quadrapedel dragon could indeed exist.
exactly
I am not sure how Orcs and Goblins factor into it. You can get a reasonably close approximation to Orcs and Goblins from Neanderthals and Australopithecus or Homo Erectus. At least something that evolved from them.
It is Elves that are the really unlikely thing, what with 1000 year lifespans and never needing to sleep.
I said reasonably close.
Like Neanderthals, Orcs are generally considered to be stout bodied "humans" for lack of a better term with thick muscles, strong bones, a resistance to the cold and superior sense of smell that tend towards being nomadic and more carnivorous and having more primitive technology than the agricultural standard humans.
Sure, neanderthals didn't have tusks, pig-like noses or green skin and were probably a lot more communicative and social, but.. mark some of that stuff up as exaggeration or propaganda and you are still in the right relative ballpark.
Homo Erectus or something like Australopithecus would get you something like his small, agile, likely lives in burrows, probably regularly steals anything that regular humans leave out and would probably be as mischievous and violent as chimpanzees, particularly when they gather in large numbers. Given how chimps go to war with one another and just how vicious they can be about tearing apart an outsider, you just get a smaller, smarter, more terrestrial chimpanzee and you've got yourself a pretty damn good approximation of what could be called a "goblin".
They don't need to be all that far removed from humans and don't really require a magical origin to exist. That is the main point I am making.
does magic effect genes?
Elves, Orcs, Goblins, Wizards, and other beings that possess magical abilities do not reside on this plain of existence but instead another where civilization has not rendered magic obsolete yet but as time lingers on the men of that world will drive all magic from the land as we did so long ago
Whelp, guess we know the next major undertaking of science. Today: smartphones. Tomorrow: How to tame your dragon for realsies!
I've literally thought this all my life. I've needed this video for years
I can't remember where, but I remember reading what has always been my favorite source for the spark in firebreathing, flint-like secretions on the teeth.
Are you suggesting dragons would fart out of their mouths and throw fart fire at people?
That methan should be clean
Dushess indubitably
NothingPosted905 there is a lizard that shoots blood from its eyes at people. If that's possible, a farting mouth is possible too.
A chemical reaction like that in Bombartar beetle can make lots of heat
Like so trey can see
A dragon could produce an electric spark biologically, in the same way other organisms do, like electric eels. There is also the possibility of spraying out chemicals that are extremely caustic (producing chemical burns) or react in an exothermic reaction hot enough to cause burns. Perhaps even hot enough to ignite.
All three strategies are used by known organisms.
Truly enjoyed your video hope you do continue the series
Please continue this series. It's so refreshing to watch a UA-cam video that isn't under 5 minutes long.
Crazy idea, hexapodal dragon being an insect? Is that on the table at all?
No. At least, not for as large as they're depicted. The square root law guarantees that an insectoid dragon could not get that large.
unless the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere at least doubles that's highly implausible. insects aren't very large because they can't be- not because it's disadvantageous.
and what about some proto lungs?
Bugs are so small because they breathe through their skin. If an insect evolved a different from of respiration they could grow much larger, but it'd be a really freaky looking dragon
I have really thought through my dragons for my comics : they are three widely different spieces that converged in evolution.
First, there are wyverns, your more traditionnal "dragon". It resembles a feathered dinosaur with large bird wings, horns and talons. They are evolved from Orbis' (my planet) equivalent to theropods, and are the last descendants, with birds, to dinosaurs. They are venomous and wild, quite difficult to tame. But by god is it cool to fly one.
Secondly, there are longs, the "asian dragon". Long, serpentine bodies with wolvish heads, stag-like antlers and small limbs. They are believed to be evolved from turtles, and possess remnants of a shell to further support the claim. They are calm and incredibly intelligent, and it is said that they possess the impossible talent of telepathy.
Finally, there are dragons. Just dragons. 6-limbed, ranging from 6 feet to 6 wings, enormous in size, able to spit fire, absolutely dangerous monsters with an eerie, alien appearance. They are related to demons and evolved deep below the ground, in a separate world, sealed away in the guts of the earth. It is unknown how demons managed to tame these beasts, but if the unmistakable, undescribable roar of a dragon is heard... hide.
Love it!
I think a more plausible "fire" breath would be something like spitting venom, as seen in some species of snakes, or spitting acid, as seen in animals like the bombardier beetle. (Some birds are also known to vomit on enemies so maybe transitional avian dinosaurs did the same). This acid/venom spit would give the target a burning sensation, even if it isnt truly fire.
Feathered wyverns actually sound very pretty! ^^
Ah, aside from dinos, dragons are my main interest. I would love if you'd continue this.
Fyi: a dragon is a legendary snake-like creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures around the world. Beliefs in dragons vary widely from region to region, but since the Middle Ages dragons in Western cultures have often been depicted as winged, horned, quadruped and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in Eastern cultures are often depicted as wingless, four-legged serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.
I loved the vid pls do more vids like this and pls continue on with this.
I just find it weird that in almost all cultures there is a type of dragon, and in specific areas of earth the way dragons look is similar around those certain places. I honestly think it is very possible that dragons existed.
What if dragons in different cultures are dinosaurs that still lived, and even though this is unlikely.
+Lily Getten
Many anthropologists have examined this
"phenomena" and concluded it is nothing more than just an
evolutionary adaption to help our ancestors avoid dangerous snakes. It does NOT
proven the existence of a yet to be discovered group of winged organisms.
There are many variations between cultures that prove this
is nothing more than just humans being creative. Never take primitive
non-scientific people's word over scientific reasoning and evidence, the race
of humans you are citing sacrificed other humans to fictional deities and
believed the Earth was created by a deity hatching out of an egg... they
weren't the best eyewitnesses.
The phenomena is a bit strange, but with such a basic and
simple design (a winged reptile... really it's not that original), it seems
like it is just humans creating a similar image independently. All humans are
born with a distrust of reptiles simply due to our ancestors having to evolve
brains able to avoid them instinctually. Because of this evolutionary trait,
humans put more focus on reptiles and more often than not treat them as
villains. It may seem strange, but it was crucial for all of our survival
before technology and civilization. When civilization was built, this adaption
made it's way into art and culture very easily thus explaining the large amount
of villainous reptiles in ancient culture.
An Instinct for Dragons by by University of Central Florida
anthropologist David E. Jones
books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA24
www.jstor.org/stable/1500302?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
+TREY the Explainer I think it s quite an awesome coincidence that some dragons do tend to look like dinosaurs. Although perhaps humans where a bit too creative if you know what I mean.... anyhow thanks for the information.
Lily Getten Dragons don't really look that much like dinosaurs, as we are learning to discover all dinosaurs were much more avian than lizard or snake-like, not to mention besides Yi qi and birds and other feathered dinosaurs, not dinosaurs could fly
The Sci-Fi Dragon And the Grey aliens
There's one they fear. In his tounge, he's dovahkinn, Dragonborn!
FUS ROH DAH
you spelled it wrong dipshit it's Dovahkiin and Fus Ro Dah you dumb noob
kieran cow-face I
Pff. Use dragonrend scrub
Their is a pretty good documentary about dragons, explaining if they existed they would most likely able to produce helium, allowing the dragon to fly. The dragons would store coal into their teeth rich since helium is also flammable, it alows the dragons to breath fire.
helium it´s not flammable.
@@AndoniOlea yes it is research it online
@@chillgamer3171 it´s a Noble gas, a inert gas.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_gas
Wait... scratch the whole video..
you're telling me in some parts of the earth people have to look out for airborne snakes?...
Dragons are stuff of myth and fantasy... or are they?
Join me as we examine the scientific plausibility of dragons! We will answer questions like: Did something like a dragon once exist? and Could something really breath fire?
14:20 isn't possible that a tree dwelling relative of the dimetrodon had 2 sails that became fin like for gliding efficiency and those fins became a set of fake wings
zachary moss No.
zachary moss hexapodal dragon wings are diverged from limbs not "two sets of elongated vertebra spines"
Dimetrodon sails were not used for flight... nor could they evolve two sails; this is because dimetrodon's sail was simply elongated vertebra on it's spine and therefor could not have two
TREY the Explainer snakes have the genes to grow limbs i myself once saw with a litle bump
joao sturza I have never hear of what you are talking about... and even if what you say is true, they are probably the vestigial limbs of the snake; not extra limbs.
Chemical fires in a mucus membrane launch the chemical and have it ignite with oxygen
Nice job Trey! Lots of interesting information with good illustrations. Obviously, you did a lot of research and work to bring us this entertaining presentation. Thank you!
What if the scent glands on a reptile evolved to secret oil to make their scales oily and assist escape from larger predators? These could also migrate to the mouth to lubricate fangs and deliver a deadlier strike against tougher skinned prey. From there it is less of a stretch to imagine projectile Fire breathing caused by jaw muscle contractions.
Yeah. You mentioned Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Dragon) and... That's actually a shape-shifting god
Ulises Peña Pérez no he mentioned Quetzalcoatlus, the flying reptile
a pterosaur the size of giraffes
Jaden Mock ya its based on that extinct legend
Really? I thought quetz was named after an ancient Egyptian pharaoh (or whatever I heard it from)
I was thinking, if a wyvern were to evolve more accurately to the common legend, its evolution would have to start from early avemetatarsalia, being the common ancestors to both dinosaurs and pterosaurs. They would have to evolve in a similar way to the hollow bones, limb structure, and wing membranes of a pterosaur, but have more traits similar to a dinosaur like a longer tail, scaly skin, and a dinosaur-like head. The tail would develop membranes to help them change direction during flight. It would have to dine on large prey to develop the sharp teeth of theropods. Horns and osteroderms would develop for self-defense against dangerous foes. But in order to do so the skull would also need to be thicker and would need more muscles in the neck to support the head along with more muscles in larger wings to be able to fly, hence why a longer tail has been stated to ensure balance. The ablility to breathe fire would develop like the way you said. The skin would also have to produce an oily substance that would protect themselves from being fataly burned by their own kind.
+Rocky Solid About a decade or so ago, Animal Planet made a pretty great documentary about how dragons could have existed, and it touched on certain parts of their biology. One of their explanations for flight in dragons was that they had special "flight bladders" that were full of hydrogen, which was produced by specialized gut bacteria. The H-bacteria also explained how they were able to 'breathe' fire. Definitely recommend checking it out if you have time.
+PrimRue7 I hope you mean hydrogen, helium can't be produced through chemical means.
Madman1234855 Hahaha thank you for that correction. I was half-asleep when I posted that, and I got H and He confused in my mind.
The Last Dragon is probably the best Mockumentary ever. I think, given recent findings about tyrannosaurs, I think likely that scansoriopterids couldve reverted back to a scaly condition.
Also an idea for the hexapod dragons, what if they werent limbs but soft body parts that looked like limbs, maybe for display, or even ribs that stuck out for balance. Over millennia these structures become more and more limb like. It would be unlikely, but so would fire breathing. BUT... theres no real reason to think t-rex couldnt breathe fire. And it weirdly kinda adds up, it was large and slow, so it wouldnt be good at chasing prey, but if it could flush prey out of vegetation and into its jaws... there you go. Blinding its prey would also help. But what I really think is interesting when it comes to suggesting that t-rex could breathe fire, is its prey, hadrosaurs couldve just ran away, BUT something slow like a triceratops or ankylosaurus, needed something else. Well, trikes had a big shield that wouldve kept their internal organs and neck safe from harm (and unlike other ceratopsids, there werent any holes in its frill, which shows it was likely used in a more defensive way). But even more interestingly... Ankylosaurus had armoured eyelids. That implies that its eyes were in enough to danger for it to have enough selective pressure to evolve such a unique trait. And the only explanation I can think of is that a predator was targeting the eyes somehow... maybe by using some form of gaseous projectile... like I dunno... fire. Hell, the crests of hadrosaurs couldve evolved for communication but also been used to blow fire away, or squirt water. It kinda makes sense in a weird way. Also bird have arisacs, and given that dinosaurs had pneumatised bones, it makes sense that most weight-saving or breathing orientated adaptations occured within more basal dinosaurs, so it makes sense that these air sacks could evolve into regions of the body that hold methane or hydrogen. So, again... t-rex could breathe fire. Also I think a spark could be created by just having rocks stuck in the teeth.
Dude, thank you so much for not using stock footage in your videos like Thoughty2 or whatever... what a RELIEF!
More of these please! I would love to see one on the evolution of various fantasy races like orcs, elves, humans, etc. How interbreeding between these different species could work, etc.
Yes but what about dragons? Shad from shadiversity 2015 - present
I'm surprised these four words weren't mentioned: "The Flight of Dragons".
I came here to see if anyone else had mentioned this. It was my favorite film as a child. I loved the way it theorized on the existence of dragons and made it seem plausible. Their explanation beats this conclusion hands down. And yes, before anybody rips into me, I am aware that it was a fantasy cartoon and not a documentary.
@@TheKellie36 the cartoon was based storywise on "The Dragon and the George" and concept wise on the speculative history book "The Flight of Dragons", which comes to similar conclusions to fire breathing as this video, except the gas produced is hydrogen and is also responsible for flight (think zeppelins). en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flight_of_Dragons_(book)
The first of your videos i've watched, how great!
I really liked your explanation of the fire breathing, I found some similarities between your's and a scene in Flight of Dragons where one character is trying to figure out the same thing.
how to make a Dragon : Quetzalcoatlus+T-Rex + Flamethrower = Dragon
Tadaaaaa ...
That was actually a really cool video man I don't know how I came across it but I'm glad I did nice work
My thoughts on fire breathing was dragons used their specialized stomach acid as fuel and their teeth were used to ignite it. Dragon teeth could have mineral that’s good for sparking maybe😭🤦🏾♀️ idk