Announcing: SpecDraco: A History of the Dragons

[Stegotyranno420]

Hi all. So after some talk with my friend @Reuben03, I decided the first of the 3 main spec-projects I will do is the realistic dragons first.
Basically, the project will be: If dragons were real, how did they came to be, what were their origins, where did they live, how do they work?
These questions will be answered in the project. Of course, this is just for fun, not serious, but when I'm older and more experienced, I will probably remaster and publish the book.
So far I got some concept art, and most of it is going to be in the monochromatic semi-bestiary style field guide thing. Oh yeah, a lot of stuff is going to be speculative and All Yesterdays-ish. A lot of these animals are not real and a work of imagination, but are directly based on the animals that once roamed the Earth. And sorry if the human-animal scales are wrong.
Early Dragons:

Pseudodracosauravos parastegotyrannus.
Description: It is an extremely large Northeast-African(and Central Asian) sauropod-like Triassic(debated when might even go back to the Permian)archosaur, measuring 34-40 meters at fully grown. If it was semiaquatic, it will probably surpass the blue whale in size, if it was terrestrial, it would have been about the weight of the Apatosaurus. Not much is really known about the animal, as all is known is a gargantuan skull, a few pieces of bone here and there, and the strange and huge shield of armor and spikes on the animal. The 2 largest reach about 5 meters in height. It almost seems too monstrous to be a real animal. It was often described as either one of the first Reptiles, an archosaur, or a Prosauropod. The 2 Large Spikes of a slightly younger specimen showed smaller, wider, and much less dense structure, and had skin coverings, unlike the older one, and much more like the modern Drakes. It is generally thought to be a Triassic prosauropod these days, but no one is sure how it became so large whilst most animals were extremely small in comparison.
Etymology
The name means The False Dragon Reptile Grandfather that is like a Thyreophoran and Theropod. While an expert in Paleontology might scoff at this ridiculously long name, the name was proposed by 2 professionals... who just came from the bar when they discovered it and named it. They thought it was a common ancestor to Thyreophora and Theropoda. So they named it that, and since they were arthropod specialists and ichthyologists, they didn't know or care much about dinosaurs but knew a bit about the phylogeny, so they picked Stego- from Stegosaurus and Tyranno- from Tyrannosaurus(these were some of the few dinosaurs they knew) and mashed them up, making "Stegotyranno" and slapped Para- and modified the word, thus making the species name, Parastegotyrannus. It is unknown why they made the genus name, though.


Venacheiros megonyx
Desription: This was a Late Cretaceous descendant of Allosaurus, or recently proposed, a relative of the coelurosaurs, which evolved pseudo-integument what was basically quilts made from scales instead of true feathers or fuzz. The back claw was very large and could crush skulls, and the hands were large and pseudo-feathered. Juvenile specimens had proportionally much more, and they had small wing-like hands, being a combination of pterosaur, avian, and chiropteran in structure. The animal was actually very light and could've jumped really high, albeit it's unknown how high. It was 4-5.5 meters in length, and had a really weak neck and bite, so it probably didn't use its jaws like an ax or crushed bone. It lived in Europe, and maybe have swum a bit, although they may have been a result of floods. It is the ancestor of wyverns.
Etymology: Venacherios megaonyx means Big-Clawed-Hunter-Hands. Commonly called the First Wyvern or Dererstedrachen, it was discovered by a team of British, French, German paleontologists, in Germany. While it was probably covered in water at the time, that led to the theories of swimming or the more plausible flood theory. The actual animal probably lived in Spain or Portugal.

Neospinosaurus Indicus cetiodermis:

Desripton: Basically just a barely-smaller slightly-smoothed skin relative of Spinosaurus Aegypticatus that migrated south to India (at the time, the subcontinent was south of Egypt).  The other, now theory that it when North to the Middle East and Turkey/Anatolia via waterways, and when India came to Eurasia, migrated there, and drastically changed to compete with the snakes and crocodiles of India. That will explain why the earliest ones came from Punjab(which only became present when India fused with Eurasia). It is still debated. These Indian Spinosaurs will be called Makaras and will migrate to become the serpents of the Far East. Another, now obsolete theory is that the animals were actually descended from Icthyovenator, which lived in the Asian country of Laos, and migrated South when the fusing happened. Unlike the earlier subspecies N.I. Afroasiaticus, it had smooth cetacean-like skin, but not too smooth.
Etymology: The name means "New Indian Whale Skinned Spine Lizard".  It was discovered in Punjab by two village boys, and examined by Bengali and Punjabi scientists.


So I hope you liked it, next week I will show you some of the modern dragons. Thanks for reading!

[Stegotyranno420]

I really like the Pseudodracosauravos, the other two look cool too.

Thanks.

[Stegotyranno420]

Okay i know i said next week but it has been 4 months, so sorry
Modern Dragons(assorted):

Germanic Rattletail(Musurdrakus Deutschlandi, the German Rat Tail Dragon)
Description: One of the most common dragons, and the origin of many dragon depictions. It cannot actually use its wings to fly, as they are not wings, but modified thin and flat scales derived from the gigantic spikes of its ancestors. It is about the size between a rhinoceros and an elephant. Common in Europe, it mainly stalks livestock, but earlier forms from the Ice Age and further probably hunted bears, mammoths, and aurochs. The Whelsh dragon is based on a related genus/species, Musurdrakus (=Erythdermos?) Kelticus
Etymology: Since Males support a larger frame, bigger horns, and a tail with a rattling noise, hence the name, while the female counterpart, which was identified first, has rat-like tail, hence the genus name.


Swiss Eagle Wyvern(Aqulisaura chiropterus europa, the European Hand-Wing Eagle Reptile)
Description: One of the few wyverns that can truly fly, it is very lightweight like its distant bird relatives, and its even more distant pterosaur relatives. It lives in the hills and mountains, waiting for travellers or stray livestock to pass by these unfortunate mountains. These creatures will fly out of there caves and grab the prey in the skull until they suffocate, or even worse, when their eyes burst. They have been known the decapitate bears with ease, but their bane is dogs and wolves. Its unknown why, but it's possible that megafaunal wolf-dogs may have hunted them in packs, and they had evolved instinct to be away from them. Its sharp beak and fangs mixed with amazing athleticism and gripping talons had made this animal so oppressive that now its starting to suffer from success, as animals who go near there habitats get shredded by the rising populations, who can only get smaller rations of delicious flesh. Its call its known to drive people to insanity and self harm if they hear it too much, but this is dubious. Many old legends had painted them as the devil's birds, and have been connected with other European Dragons, related or not. The females are also called Harpies, or Swiss Harpies
Etymology: Named after Swiss mountains where numbers are highest. However, some have said to rename the Swiss races/breeds as A.C. Helvetica

Tibeti Makara(Himachalsaurus Sinonipponensis, the East Asian Himachal Reptile)
Description: It can crush crocodiles in two, pierce rhinoceros armour, and bring fear to the whole jungle, and even in the hot springs of Asian snowlands. With the genus originating in the Shimla area, this Tibetan species has moved on north and east to become the ancestor of the many East Asian Dragons, or Longs, which split into Sinonippolongids, and Eusiamlongids. The Spinosaurid ansectors of them had to change drastically in order to adapt to the tinier environments. Somehow, it can live in the cold foothills of the Himalayas. These animals are worshipped by more cultures than one can count.
Etymology: The genus originates from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, and this species is from China and Japan