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Day 16: Dragonet - A baby or adolescent dragon.

There is some confusion as to what the term "dragonet" refers to. Initially the term was used to refer to any draconic creature that was small in size, because it was assumed that "dragons" were naturally large, the average size of most wyrms being somewhere between a rhinoceros and an elephant. The discovery of many draconic creatures whose size was consistently small even as adults ruled out this definition, however, so the term eventually came to be used for juvenile "dragons" in general. One taxonomic definition attempted to coin different terms for the juveniles of the three main "dragon" families, however, with "drakonet" for draconic retrosaurs, "wyrmling" for wyrms, and "eft" for salamandrae (the same as modern salamanders, due to the old belief that the two groups were in fact one and the same). While "wyrmling" and "eft" are still in use, there is no specific term for juvenile retrosaurs due to there being so many different families, but "drakonet" remains in use for one specific group of draconic creatures, as an alternative name for the group that would become known as "flying tyrant" retrosaurs - not only because their average size is indeed smaller than most other retrosaur groups, but also because before their relationship to palaeo tyrants was conclusively determined, they didn't have a common name to begin with. Ironically, however, the drakonet clade includes the absolute largest family of flying creatures known: the zizis (singular ziz), which are so massive that their hind legs have become a second pair of wings just to keep them airborne.

The largest of the zizis is without a doubt the ziz itself, but the Bar-Juchne is not far behind, with a wingspan of up to 70 feet. It is a smaller, more terrestrial relative of the ziz, like a drakonet answer to azhdarchids. It is not as adapted to an aerial lifestyle, since its limbs have actual claws which are large and strong enough to help it seize its prey, but its legs can function as a secondary wing pair like the ziz until it lands or attacks. Its talons are used along with its long, powerful, and cruelly hooked bill to subdue prey as large and heavy as elephants, though it can’t carry them off like similarly-sized rocs can. While not as physically strong as the ziz, it is nonetheless a formidable predator that can devastate whole towns if provoked. Like other drakonets, the bar-juchne lays small clutches of leathery-shelled eggs in a nest-like structure, but unlike the more advanced branch-woven nests of smaller drakonet species, it simply carves a shallow depression into the ground, typically on a high cliff, and guards the eggs and later the young ferociously, picking up food for them until they can fly and hunt for themselves at around 2 to 3 years or so, whereupon they abandon the nesting pit without fanfare. It takes up to 10 years for this species to reach maturity, and the estimated lifespan is around 60 years, but most don't make it that far - up to 80% of bar-juchne drakonets fail to make it past their fifth year, often being killed by predators or even other older bar-juchnes because their great size and preference for terrestrial prey presents heavy competition to other creatures they share their world with.

The bar-juchne is a well-respected animal in Jewish culture, and not without reason. It was said that even its eggs were considered untouchable, though the Talmud's account of a bar-juchne egg destroying 300 cedars and flooding 60 cities after being thrown out, supposedly because it was unfertilized, is a definite exaggeration. A typical bar-juchne egg is nonetheless sizable in comparison to the eggs of other oviparious species, just barely matching that of an ostrich in scale.

Bonus: Adult Bar-Juchne

The draoknet clade isn't really based on anything specific, as their being essentially equivalent to flying tyrants was inspired more by the idea of "dragonets" being based on pterosaur fossils than anything else - the zizis are of course folkloric, though. I based the overall idea behind the zizis on this concept by iguanodont on Tumblr pertaining to the "ziz bird" itself, although in their case they call it a genuine dragon - which is valid in light of the definition they use for that term. Keep in mind that my definition of "dragon" is every bit as subjective as "theirs'" because dragons can be anthing you want them to be, so if you choose to make these things into big weird flying venom-spitting proto-mammals convergent to birds and pterosaurs the way iguanodont does, I'm alright with that! You can do whatever you want with your definition, and I can do whatever I want with mine.

This is to me one of my weaker entries thus far - I was tired and on a plane flight at the time so I was obviously not at the top of my game - but I still think it turned out alright for what it was worth. I did however take the time to sketch the adult form as well (see above), which turned out loads better because you can actually see what the wing structure looks like there. I might update that to color as well in the future once I have time away from work and moving preparation.

Special thanks to TyrantisTerror on Tumblr for the prompts for this Smoktober art challenge, as well as his founding of the "retrosaur" concept - which is public domain, by the by! The link to the challenge is here:

tyrantisterror.tumblr.com/post…

Description
Day 16: Dragonet - A baby or adolescent dragon.

There is some confusion as to what the term "dragonet" refers to. Initially the term was used to refer to any draconic creature that was small in size, because it was assumed that "dragons" were naturally large, the average size of most wyrms being somewhere between a rhinoceros and an elephant. The discovery of many draconic creatures whose size was consistently small even as adults ruled out this definition, however, so the term eventually came to be used for juvenile "dragons" in general. One taxonomic definition attempted to coin different terms for the juveniles of the three main "dragon" families, however, with "drakonet" for draconic retrosaurs, "wyrmling" for wyrms, and "eft" for salamandrae (the same as modern salamanders, due to the old belief that the two groups were in fact one and the same). While "wyrmling" and "eft" are still in use, there is no specific term for juvenile retrosaurs due to there being so many different families, but "drakonet" remains in use for one specific group of draconic creatures, as an alternative name for the group that would become known as "flying tyrant" retrosaurs - not only because their average size is indeed smaller than most other retrosaur groups, but also because before their relationship to palaeo tyrants was conclusively determined, they didn't have a common name to begin with. Ironically, however, the drakonet clade includes the absolute largest family of flying creatures known: the zizis (singular ziz), which are so massive that their hind legs have become a second pair of wings just to keep them airborne.

The largest of the zizis is without a doubt the ziz itself, but the Bar-Juchne is not far behind, with a wingspan of up to 70 feet. It is a smaller, more terrestrial relative of the ziz, like a drakonet answer to azhdarchids. It is not as adapted to an aerial lifestyle, since its limbs have actual claws which are large and strong enough to help it seize its prey, but its legs can function as a secondary wing pair like the ziz until it lands or attacks. Its talons are used along with its long, powerful, and cruelly hooked bill to subdue prey as large and heavy as elephants, though it can’t carry them off like similarly-sized rocs can. While not as physically strong as the ziz, it is nonetheless a formidable predator that can devastate whole towns if provoked. Like other drakonets, the bar-juchne lays small clutches of leathery-shelled eggs in a nest-like structure, but unlike the more advanced branch-woven nests of smaller drakonet species, it simply carves a shallow depression into the ground, typically on a high cliff, and guards the eggs and later the young ferociously, picking up food for them until they can fly and hunt for themselves at around 2 to 3 years or so, whereupon they abandon the nesting pit without fanfare. It takes up to 10 years for this species to reach maturity, and the estimated lifespan is around 60 years, but most don't make it that far - up to 80% of bar-juchne drakonets fail to make it past their fifth year, often being killed by predators or even other older bar-juchnes because their great size and preference for terrestrial prey presents heavy competition to other creatures they share their world with.

The bar-juchne is a well-respected animal in Jewish culture, and not without reason. It was said that even its eggs were considered untouchable, though the Talmud's account of a bar-juchne egg destroying 300 cedars and flooding 60 cities after being thrown out, supposedly because it was unfertilized, is a definite exaggeration. A typical bar-juchne egg is nonetheless sizable in comparison to the eggs of other oviparious species, just barely matching that of an ostrich in scale.

Bonus: Adult Bar-Juchne

The draoknet clade isn't really based on anything specific, as their being essentially equivalent to flying tyrants was inspired more by the idea of "dragonets" being based on pterosaur fossils than anything else - the zizis are of course folkloric, though. I based the overall idea behind the zizis on this concept by iguanodont on Tumblr pertaining to the "ziz bird" itself, although in their case they call it a genuine dragon - which is valid in light of the definition they use for that term. Keep in mind that my definition of "dragon" is every bit as subjective as "theirs'" because dragons can be anthing you want them to be, so if you choose to make these things into big weird flying venom-spitting proto-mammals convergent to birds and pterosaurs the way iguanodont does, I'm alright with that! You can do whatever you want with your definition, and I can do whatever I want with mine.

This is to me one of my weaker entries thus far - I was tired and on a plane flight at the time so I was obviously not at the top of my game - but I still think it turned out alright for what it was worth. I did however take the time to sketch the adult form as well (see above), which turned out loads better because you can actually see what the wing structure looks like there. I might update that to color as well in the future once I have time away from work and moving preparation.

Special thanks to TyrantisTerror on Tumblr for the prompts for this Smoktober art challenge, as well as his founding of the "retrosaur" concept - which is public domain, by the by! The link to the challenge is here:

tyrantisterror.tumblr.com/post…