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Description
This is an updated version of a creature I created ages ago when planning the evolutionary history of the dragons of Aren, and I resurrected it for a twitter discussion to illustrate the dangers of applying too many realistic evolutionary pressures to fantasy creatures. The sea wyverns of Zhiruvach* represent highly advanced volancy, having lost the long dragging tail, developed a keratinous beak instead of teeth, reduced their midlimbs to tiny nubs and moved from wing-assisted terrestial locomotion to obligate bipedality. As a result the free digits of the wing are lost, resulting in a smooth anterior margin. Spending much of their life gliding in high enough in the atmosphere that they often have to tolerate freezing temperatures, they have modified their scales into something resembling feathers for insulation. They have no breath weapon, as one would not assist them meaningfully in their piscivorous and scavenging lifestyle.

All of this is surely reasonable if we are trying to design a maximally realistic dragon, yet it's not really much of a dragon anymore. More like a hybrid of a bird and a pterosaur with an atrophied extra pair of arms and paired head crests instead of a single one. Strict scientific realism can help to make fantastic creature designs more believable, but there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. Moderation is the key.

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[*The world which all dragons evolved in, which exists in a universe parallel to Aren's. Its name literally translates to "nest/roost of dragons"]

Description
This is an updated version of a creature I created ages ago when planning the evolutionary history of the dragons of Aren, and I resurrected it for a twitter discussion to illustrate the dangers of applying too many realistic evolutionary pressures to fantasy creatures. The sea wyverns of Zhiruvach* represent highly advanced volancy, having lost the long dragging tail, developed a keratinous beak instead of teeth, reduced their midlimbs to tiny nubs and moved from wing-assisted terrestial locomotion to obligate bipedality. As a result the free digits of the wing are lost, resulting in a smooth anterior margin. Spending much of their life gliding in high enough in the atmosphere that they often have to tolerate freezing temperatures, they have modified their scales into something resembling feathers for insulation. They have no breath weapon, as one would not assist them meaningfully in their piscivorous and scavenging lifestyle.

All of this is surely reasonable if we are trying to design a maximally realistic dragon, yet it's not really much of a dragon anymore. More like a hybrid of a bird and a pterosaur with an atrophied extra pair of arms and paired head crests instead of a single one. Strict scientific realism can help to make fantastic creature designs more believable, but there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. Moderation is the key.

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[*The world which all dragons evolved in, which exists in a universe parallel to Aren's. Its name literally translates to "nest/roost of dragons"]