1. Triangular muzzle (more pointed than that of firelizards).

2. The front teeth are for hunting, and they have molars in back for grinding firestone. The canines grow in during their first turn.

3. They have a forked tongue.

4. There are 48 teeth at adulthood.

1. Their sense of smell isn't as acute as humans' simply because there's no need.

1. Multifaceted eyes that seem to whirl with emotion (the faster the motion the stronger the emotion). Though this movement is only caused by the light off the facets.

2. Dragons have no lashes, just eye ridges for protection, and three (the inner is transparent, thickening out to the outer) membranes that close depending on the need. When all three lids are closed, it's usually for sleep.

3. The protruding brow ridges, when offered for rubbing by the dragon, is a sign of trust.

4. Their eyesight is sharper than humans, even able to see in banks of fog.

5. They have the ability to look through their riders' eyes, even if they're not together.

6. Moods are reflected in the color of the eyes:

Mind/Communication

1. The dragon has an enlarged frontal lobe due to the enhanced telepathic ability.

2. With age, the dragon's ability to concentrate goes. Even in their prime, the memory span of a dragon is quite short. They have a horrible time remembering other riders' names, often shortening or flubbing them (thus the honorific).

3. Dragons have short term memory recall of 2-3 days.

4. They are peaceful creatures, that only attack when their rider is in danger or an occasional accidental mauling at hatching, and become agitated during mating flights and Fall.

5. A dragon can bespeak anyone he or she wishes, though this tends to be a distasteful experience so is rarely done. They can also speak to watchwhers, though some really don't like to do that either.

6. Another amazing communication that can occur is between dragon and firelizard. Usually it's when the dragon's bored, but firelizards can exchange images when necessary.

7. The more prominent headknobs of a dragon appear to be the replacement of ears, perhaps picking up on vibrations that their mind and sight don't catch.

8. They have wonderful spatial sense which helps during betweening in tight spaces.

9. Some dragons have the ability to see what is wrong with animals. Orlith did this after Moreta's asked her what was wrong with a runner.

1. Dragon hide is smooth, soft to the touch, strong, and hairless. A healthy hide is glossy with no hint of gray. Sick hide also tends to be chalky to the touch.

   Hide Colors of the Pern Dragon
   Gold	Pale yellow to dark antique gold
   Bronze	Golden-green sheen, though some can be more brownish in coloring
   Brown	Tan to chocolate
   Blue	Various shades of blue
   Green	Various shades of green

2. Dragons and firelizards, especially while growing, should be oiled regularly to prevent the hide from becoming dry and cracking.

3. Female dragons (gold and green) change color tone during their proddy (sexually aroused) period before mating. Just before, they may even seem to glow.

4. As dragons age, their hide changes color tone. Browns get green, while golds tend to bronze as they get older.

1. They can hold their breath for up to 10 minutes. When the dorsally-placed lungs are fully inflated, the dragon's chest can swell twice its normal size.

2. Dragons have two stomachs. One for digestion of food (when a weyrling they eat 7-8 times a day, then at one turn twice a sevenday) , and one for the firestone to be made into fuel for fire.

3. Warm blooded, with a green ichor. This ichor, like human blood, is based on a metal, but not the same, dragon ichor is based on copper, which makes the hide a greenish tint instead of human pink.

4. Their several hearts are placed in their ribcage similarly to ours.

1. There are 10 vertebra in the neck, and 56 in the back with an extremely strong endoskeleton.

2. This skeleton is made up of light, flexible plates, with a fused ribcage of one piece.

3. Dragons, unlike humans, have a boron-silicate bone chemistry. Their bones are much, much stronger than our calcareous bones, making them able to resist the strain caused by greater body weight, especially for flight.

4. Their joints are ball and socket for strength and less likelihood of dislocation, during landings and flights.

5. A line of ridges run along a dragon's spine from just behind the headknobs down to the shoulder muscles of the wings, where they grow less prominent. Then they continue down to the forked tail.

1. Dragons have extremely muscled back legs for power during take-off.

2. Muscles are shiny silver-grey.

1. A dragonlength is the size of the most common dragons, the greens. There are so many that they number the sum of blue, brown and bronzes.

2. Reaching full growth at 18 months, the dragon can reach up to 45 feet at its largest (Gold Ramoth). The growth increment is shown in the following chart (Notes: based on Ninth Pass Pern, in feet):

   Color	2 Mos.	4 Mos.	6 Mos.	12 Mos.	18 Mos.
   Green	9-12	12-15	15-19	18-23	20-25
   Blue	12-14	15-18	19-23	23-28	25-30
   Brown	14-15	18-21	23-27	28-33	30-35
   Bronze	15-16	21-22	27-28	33-35	35-38
   Gold	16-19	22-24	28-31	35-39	38-42

1. Front legs have 5 taloned fingers (pentadactyl) that can hold things like human hands. Dragonets (i.e., firelizards) had 3, that came together like pinchers for hunting of fish and the like, but were engineered to the more appropriate grasping hand for eating of larger animals.

2. The front talons are retractable, but rear are not.

3. Dragons have short forelimbs which causes a lopsided gait when walking, and when resting they're usually on their haunches sitting.

4. Back legs have 3 toes.

1. Dragonkin have forked tails which hold the sphincter. Note: Some artists have given them a flat, diamond-shaped tail. Both are permissible, as the artist prefers.

2. They can hold their excreta for up to five days in the event of illness, then go between to release themselves. If they can't after five days, then their riders (or pets in the case of fire lizards) will need to clean up after them.

3. The genitalia are concealed under a pouch like covering of skin under the connection of tail and body, which is only shown during mating.

1. A period of "proddiness" occurs before the female dragon rises. The signs depend on the mated team, but can be irritability, mood changes, affectionate, etc.

2. Golds and greens tend to deepen and brighten in hide color a day before mating, and blood a kill on the feeding grounds. Though greens don't always give such warning.

3. Greens rise about every six to eight sevendays. Fertile golds rise less, breaking out of deep sleep to fly to the feeding pens to blood a beast.

4. The rider urges her queen to not eat the meat, because that would weigh her down. The purpose of the mating flight is to have the strongest and fastest catch her, so she must be at her lightest but energized by the blood.

5. Golds tend to be possessive over the male dragons chasing her, which is why it's dangerous to have two Golds rise at the same time. They will battle to the death. Greens do not seem to have this problem.

6. The clutch is laid after about three months and remains on the sands for about five sevendays.

Many of the descriptive and anatomical terms used in the discussion if the wing repair are familiar to any Sea Holder, for the wing functions in much the same manner as a ship's sails; so similar titles are applied. Likewise, Healers will recognize many of the orthopedic terms as the same ones applied to humans. In spite of the different planetary origin, much of the bone and muscular arrangement of dragons is similar to that of humans and animal.

About half the length of a dragon wing is supported by the armlike bones (complete with elbow) between the shoulder and the finger joint, the structure which includes the bones found in a human's writs and hand without the fingers. The massive strength h of the shoulder and upper arm muscles supply the greatest "lift" of the dragon. The elbow has a slightly flexed position, and a membrane stretches between the shoulder and finger joint forming the leading edge.

The finger joint includes the metacarpus, the vestigial "thumb", and the joints for all the wing bones. The extensor and flexure muscles which originate below the elbow narrow into long tendons just before reaching the finger joint, and these extend all along the wing bones, attached at each successive join for fine control of the wing tips.

The first two wing bones run almost together, as the bones form the outer "spar" portion of the lub. The remaining two wing bones fan out from the finger joint. The inner bone is almost perpendicular to the spar bone, and ends about midway between the body and the forestay finger tip.

Originating at the dorsal spine of the back, and stretching to the inner bone, is the largest of three vast membranes -- the main wingsails. The primary wingsail must support the bulk of the dragon's weight. The two lesser sails run from inner bone to midbone, and midbone to spar bone. They are also vital for support, bye are equally important for maneuverability. Both axes of the wing can be altered by the flexion of the various joints. The tip of the spar mainsail can function almost independently, and thus is called the finger sail. Due to the sheer bulk of the mainsails, additional support is provided by cartilaginous battens which extend from the arm and finger joint to the leech or trailing edge.

Aileron: The sections and membranes which make up the mainsails.

Batten Rib: Cartilage ribs within the mainsails, joining sections of aileron to other ribs as well as the different bones/body.

Bones: The wing has 4 major bone groups, each made up of 3 sections. (Inner Bone, Mid-bone, Spar bones, and Outer bone).

Finger joint: An extra bone which protrudes from the "hand" of the dragon from the same point the other bone sections merge.

Finger sail: The section of the spar mainsail which reaches diagonally from the lowest minor joint of the spar bone to the trailing edge.

Leading Edge: The top cartilage of the wing.

Leech: The whole lower edge of the wing, from the body to the forestay tip.

Lub: The whole upper edge of the wing, from shoulder to forestay tip.

Mainsail: The wing has 3 mainsails, each made up of aileron and batten ribs (primary mainsail, secondary mainsail, spar mainsail).

Trailing Edge: The lower cartilage of the wing.

All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright© Anne McCaffrey 1967,2000, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author.

The Dragonriders of Pern® is registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne McCaffrey, used here with permission. Use or reproduction without a license is strictly prohibited.