one of the common ideas for dragons being able to breath fire... - Edit 1
Before modification by LadyLorraine at 18/08/2011 07:16:25 PM
is the use of a specialized gland.
In D&D, the present accepted explanation is that this gland (located attached to the heart) is able to accumulate the various energies of the body and food stuffs (perhaps why dragons are known to eat some of their treasures?) and then channel this accumulated energy into the respiratory system, unleashing it as the breath weapon.
Another popular theory is that the specialized gland is an altered "venom" type gland that produces a flammable substance that can be ignited by flint/iron/similar pieces stored in the mouth on a temporary or permanent basis, perhaps in some sort of manipulative pouch.
Then you have examples like in Anne McCaffery's Pern universe, where the dragons are only able to breathe fire by ingesting a certain type of stone that causes a sort of digestive conflagration (that obviously does not injure the dragons), causing the dragons to, essentially, have controlled fire burps (which is so in-elegant when you think about it
)
There are any number of ways that are stretches of the imagination, but biologically probable or imaginable.
If you didn't notice, I really like this kind of question and like to apply it to real-life It's fun to take fantastical creatures and imagine either what animals caused that myth, or how such creatures could hypothetically exist in our world and how they would function.
In D&D, the present accepted explanation is that this gland (located attached to the heart) is able to accumulate the various energies of the body and food stuffs (perhaps why dragons are known to eat some of their treasures?) and then channel this accumulated energy into the respiratory system, unleashing it as the breath weapon.
Another popular theory is that the specialized gland is an altered "venom" type gland that produces a flammable substance that can be ignited by flint/iron/similar pieces stored in the mouth on a temporary or permanent basis, perhaps in some sort of manipulative pouch.
Then you have examples like in Anne McCaffery's Pern universe, where the dragons are only able to breathe fire by ingesting a certain type of stone that causes a sort of digestive conflagration (that obviously does not injure the dragons), causing the dragons to, essentially, have controlled fire burps (which is so in-elegant when you think about it
)There are any number of ways that are stretches of the imagination, but biologically probable or imaginable.
If you didn't notice, I really like this kind of question and like to apply it to real-life
It's fun to take fantastical creatures and imagine either what animals caused that myth, or how such creatures could hypothetically exist in our world and how they would function.