AzurePhoenix Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 Is their an average as to the average percentage of a lizard's weight is bone? Boy, that's an awkward sentence ... anyway, something like a Komodo Dragon, or an alligator (I know, not a lizard, duh ) would help. Mokele, my hopes are resting with you, Buddy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokele Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Nope, it varies tremendously with both species-specific adaptation (such as Gila monsters, where every scale has a large lump of bone under it, and the body is pretty stout and hefty), and, most importantly, with size. See, if you double a lizard's size, you increase every surface areas 4-fold (including bone cross-sections, which in turn determine strength of bone), but you increase mass 8 fold. So it's now supporting 8 times the weight on just 4 times the bone, which is Bad. This is why large species have proportionally thicker bones than small ones (both for lizards and all other terrestrial vertebrates). As a result, bigger lizards will have a higher percentage of bone than small ones. Given that lizards can range in size from less than 3 cm to over 3 m, there'd be a tremendous variation in relative skeletal mass. So, basically, there's not going to be a fixed percentage, but a rate at which that percentage changes. I know of studies on this for aspects of bone geometry (such as cross-sectional area, length, etc), but nothing for raw skeleton mass compares to total live mass. What are you trying to figure out, exactly? Mokele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzurePhoenix Posted March 14, 2005 Author Share Posted March 14, 2005 Will you promise not to laugh? It's very stupid, but keep in mind, in addition to the sciences, I'm really into mythology, and all pride aside, I can be a durn good writer when I need to, and at the moment, I'm trying to write a novel. Problem is, in the novel I'm attempting to write, I like to blend the scientific with the magical, even if only in tiny amounts. Promise not to laugh, and I'll tell you my goal. I have several other threads that relate to this same sorta thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyanide Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 I personally think that interlinking science and magic is a novel idea. Get it...novel..? Anyways.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokele Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Oh, don't worry, when I write, my favorite character does oh-so-scientific things like shoot energy beams out of her hands. She was married to a shapeshifting dragon at one point. I actually think I'm rather good a biological technobabble for fiction (make it sound just good enough that nobody but bio majors could catch on), and I always loved creating fictional monster-races for AD&D or other RPGs. Mokele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 hurrah! A found a fellow Adventerer! D&D is an amazing game. Yeah, if your writing fiction, the laws of science be damned, I say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzurePhoenix Posted March 15, 2005 Author Share Posted March 15, 2005 Kay, I'm trying to design the base anatomy for the average dragon, as anatomically correct as possible, but not enough to interfere with the mystical components. I mean, you try to design a flight-capable two hundred foot lizard (the very biggest of teh big, the average is between forty five and seventy feet, still pretty huge). So far I've had to replace calcium bones with totally-scifi honey-combed bones of a strong but light-weight and flexible material currently referred to as "Dragon-ivory." Also, the honey-comb pockets are filled wth hydrogen to further reduce weight. I'm not sure if I should have a hydrogen flight bladder or not. Does anyone have any ideas whatsoever, who won't sue me for using them? Thank the gods and goats I'm in the company of science and myth fans. I'm so relieved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Filled with hydrogen you say? Not a good thing to have around naked flames, those dragons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzurePhoenix Posted March 15, 2005 Author Share Posted March 15, 2005 nope, but they're well insulated. Besides, when confronting a pissed Kulshedra dragon, the last thing you need to worry about is a bit of inlfamed hydrogen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 I was thinking more from the dragon's point of view really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzurePhoenix Posted March 16, 2005 Author Share Posted March 16, 2005 I see, well, no worry, one magical aspect I'm giving most is a remarkably high tolerance of heat.... course, it's not the heat that's a threat when a hydrogen balloon the size of a cow is erupting within your chest, is it? Crap.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 If it burns with a squeaky pop, it must be a dragon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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