Talk:Dragon
Identifying Dragon Genders[edit]
Finally managed to remember my password! Anyway, to business. A while back, I sent a message via the Ask Naomi feature asking how a dragon's gender could be visually identified by a human, as Laurence recognizes "King" Mokhachane as female from across a room in Empire of Ivory. I didn't get an answer, but a few months later a few people raised issue with the...shall we say, R-Rated image of Temeraire and Iskierka that's to be included in the short stories book; noting that the scene didn't fit with reptilian reproductive organs, which are by and large non-existent , being kept inside the body until needed.
However, having just concluded Blood of Tyrants, I think we now have enough information to assume that dragons have...a setup similar to mammals? In one scene, Laurence mistakenly assumes Lady Kiyomizu is male due to her having spines running down her chest, only to realise his mistake when she lies down and shifts the spines. Of course, Laurence is suffering from amnesia at the time, and as such, his judgement regarding dragons could be called into question, but since he subconsciously remembers a good deal of information about dragons anyway, and this isn't treated as inexperience, I think it's safe to say it's accurate.
In any case, it's backed up by some information from earlier books; not only do we have the scene in Black Powder War where Temeraire...pleases himself in the small pool during the trip west - an act that should be quite impossible or difficult with the conventional reptilian setup - and also enough scenes where it's implied that dragons certainly get as much pleasure out of sex as mammals, whereas a conventional reptilian setup - at least according to Wikipedia - wouldn't offer much towards that. This could suggest that dragons share a common ancestor with mammals, and are as such Synapsids, although it's probably far more likely that it's a case of parallel evolution.
I have no idea how we'll work this into the page, but I guess we'll find a way. On a final note, I must say I hope that male dragons are...built similar to dogs or horses - in that the genitalia can be vaguely hidden - else I dread to think what riding in the belly-netting of a male dragon must look like...
Right, here's hoping that I never have to write something like this again. On another note, I should have a plot summary of book eight up soon, and I plan to do some editing work on the other pages... Almaron 14:56, 2 September 2013 (CDT)
