At first, you may mistake dragons for giant lizards or large birds, but you couldn't be further from the truth. They're older, faster, and infinitely smarter. These are the major differentiating features of dragons:

• wings like bats
• very long fingers
• thin membrane
• long, rudderlike tail
• 3-4 toes facing the front and one in back on each foot
• thumbs opposable
• can grasp objects
• hundreds of hard scale
• overlapping
• never sheds

Skeletal Structure and Internal Organs

Dragons have more than 500 bones. Sixty-eight bones alone make up the dragon's spine.

Distinguishing Features:

• very strong jaw
• sharp teeth
• 2 fangs on top and 2 fangs on bottom
• spines
• attached to body
• flexible
• not as sharp as horns
• large horns on most species
• can be used for grooming or defence

Dragons have huge brains and large lungs. The most fascinating organ, though, by far, is the draconis fundamentum. All of a dragon's blood passes through this organ before moving through the rest of the body. Chemicals made in this organ move into the lungs, where the dragon's breath weapon is generated.

Dragon Musculature

Seeing as dragons have muscles that no other creature really has, science has to invent various names that are shared by few other creatures. As such, the names for some muscles differ. The ones in A Practical Guide to Dragons are as follows:

• Alar pectoral: main flight muscle
• Alar cleidomastoid: draws wings up and forward
• Alar deltoid: draws wing up and forward
• Alar carpi ulnaris: allows wings to warp and twist
• Alar triceps: fold and unfold wing
• Alar carpi radialus: allows wings to warp and twist
• Alar biceps: fold and unfold wing
• Alar lattisimus dorsai: draws wing up and back

Dragon Flight