About Dragons

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! Let’s talk about dragons. By a common definition, a dragon is a large, snake-like creature. Dragons are mentioned in the folklore of almost all nations from Mesopotamia and Egypt to China and Scandinavia (this fact in itself says a lot, because coincidences of this kind are very doubtful). The prototypes of the Hungarian dragons can be found in the book of Joan K. Rolling or the dragon from the Tolkien Hobbit include the Vedic Vritra, the Lernean hydra, the Japanese Yamata or Oroti, and many, many other similar creatures.

In addition to a large and scaly body, various authors describe dragons as winged, horned, tetrapods, fire-breathing, or many-headed creatures. Dragons are often credited with great intellectual abilities, although some of their actions are highly questionable in terms of human morality.

So, our discussion question: how real is the existence of such animals in nature? Can a fairy tale have a real, or even an existing, in our days, foundation?

Leonid Livshits: I propose to leave for now the criminal social nature of dragons, and concentrate on the unique, almost fabulous physical characteristics. It makes sense to assume that, according to the classification adopted today, dragons would belong to the class of reptiles (Reptilia), therefore, it is necessary to look for appropriate unique characteristics from the representatives of this class that are existing or extinct (but nonetheless known to science). I think it makes no sense to discuss large sizes, the presence of limbs and even flying abilities – everyone can easily find similar analogies in the animal kingdom. However, the many-headedness, horniness and especially fire breathing are worthy of discussion.

• Multiplicity: Reptile polycephaly is a rare but well-known phenomenon. Specifically, several hundred cases of observing double-headedness (dicephaly, or according to more modern terminology, cranio-dichotomy) in snakes have been described (see Smith and Perez-Higareda, Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 23 (4) 139 (1984); Andreadis and Burghardt, Physiology & Behavior; 54 (4), 649 (1993)). The appearance of such individuals is most likely the result of an incomplete separation of identical (“Siamese”) twins. Although the reasons for this phenomenon are unknown, it has been suggested that anoxia (low concentration or lack of oxygen) and rapid thermal changes play an important role in the appearance of twins of this kind in reptiles (Frye, Veterinary Medicine Publ. Co., Edwardsville, KS (1981)).

• Horn: Cerastes Cerastes, known as the horned desert viper, is a poisonous viper species that is widespread in the deserts of northern Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. Often this is easily recognized by the presence of a pair of under-eye “horns.” Some individuals are quite large, reaching 85 cm. Unfortunately, we know too little about the physiology and functionality of these horns. By the way, in other reptiles, horns or, more precisely, horny spikes have a protective function: when attacked by a predator, toad-shaped lizards (Phrynosoma – the genus of short-legged and short-tailed iguaniform lizards) move their heads in this way, thus directing their cranial spines up or back, which, in turn, allows them to avoid being caught by the head or neck.

• Fire breathing: Snake poisons are mainly composed of enzymes such as A2 phospholipases, metalloproteases, serine proteinases and L-amino acid oxidases that cause inflammation, myotoxicity, hemorrhage, coagulation, edema, cytotoxicity, cell apoptosis and genotoxicity (see Tasoulis and Isbister Toxins (Basel) 9 (9): 290 (2017); Chan, et al, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol; 100 (14): 6165 (2016)). In other words, some of the above give the bite the same pain and visual sensations as a burn. Moreover, the types of snakes that are protected from the enemy remotely by spitting are well known. Spitting is a hallmark of the genera Hemachatus, Naja and Ophiophagus; representatives of these genera are found in Africa and Asia. The tubules in the teeth of these snakes bend at right angles and open outward on the front surface of the tooth, and the excretory openings are more rounded and are shifted closer to the base of the tooth, so that the poison, after passing through them, “shoots” forward (see Triep et al. PLoS One. 6; 8 (5): e61548 (2013)).
  
  The range of such spits is several meters. Contact with the mucous membrane leads to severe pain; in case of eyes – to partial or complete blindness. Therefore, a comparison of such poisonous spitting and fire breathing is quite logical. In addition, the ability to direct the discharge of blood from the corners of the eyes in several species of toad lizards and snakes (Smith et al. Herpetol. Rev 24: 130 (1993); Mahrt, Herpetol. Rev 27:21 (1996); Sherbrooke, Herpetol. Rev 31 : 243 (2000)) may also resemble fire breathing, at least in color.

To summarize: creatures that are credited with magical physical characteristics, like multi-headedness, fire breathing and horniness, live among us. Yes, they are mostly rare and exotic, but at the same time quite real. And now it’s time to move on to questions and suggestions from our readers.

Featured image by Josch13 from Pixabay