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Description
Day 3: Wurm - A Western dragon with a serpentine body that completely lacks limbs.

Like the Lindwyrm body type, the Wurm body type (not to be confused with the wyrms as a clade) is known to occur in multiple lineages of dragon. This is believed to be due to convergent evolution, as there are only so many ways for a large-bodied creature to adapt to a subterranean lifestyle of navigating narrow burrows and crevices. While most species are indeed fossorial in nature, a significant number of them are also amphibious, and some Wurm-type wyrms have been known to adopt a totally marine lifestyle with a complete lack of any ties to dry land.

The Biscione is a True Wurm (descended from the Linnorms and in turn the Drakes) that is native to northern and central Italy, although relatives of this species are known throughout many of the Mediterranean coasts. Although it largely preys on fish and waterfowl, some specimens can grow large enough to swallow land animals drinking from the rivers it lurks in, and may develop a taste for humans, which resulted in the species being hunted to near extinction in Roman times, with numbers nowadays only just recovering. While it is a freshwater species, it is believed to have speciated from a marine True Wurm native to the waters around Constantinople that is considered extinct today. It is probably the image of this long-gone progenitor which inspired the bronzed serpent brought to Milan from Constantinople in the 11th century by the archbishop Arnolf II of Arsago, which was also called the "biscione" or "vipera"; the former would soon also be used to refer to the species of True Wurm native to the subtropical territory around the city of Milan. The Biscione became a protected species associated with Milan when the Visconti dynasty gained control over the city in 1277. Even after the Visconti family died out in the 15th century, the emblem of a Biscione swallowing a human (or other less morbid things like flowers or the sovereign's orb and cross) remained in the city heraldry and became part of the coats of arms of the House of Sforza. A few specimens were also imported by queen Bona Sforza to the towns of Sanok, Poland and Pruzhany, Belarus in the early 14th century, where they ended up turning feral and have continued presiding ever since.

The blue color of the Biscione is normally much duller than as shown in images of the creature, even with the limited color palette common to most European heraldry. Its blue-gray coloration helps it camouflage while underwater and conceal it until it lunges out at prey, with the brighter blue only turning up during the breeding season.

Special thanks to TyrantisTerror on Tumblr for the prompts for this Smoktober art challenge! The link to the challenge is here:

tyrantisterror.tumblr.com/post…

Description
Day 3: Wurm - A Western dragon with a serpentine body that completely lacks limbs.

Like the Lindwyrm body type, the Wurm body type (not to be confused with the wyrms as a clade) is known to occur in multiple lineages of dragon. This is believed to be due to convergent evolution, as there are only so many ways for a large-bodied creature to adapt to a subterranean lifestyle of navigating narrow burrows and crevices. While most species are indeed fossorial in nature, a significant number of them are also amphibious, and some Wurm-type wyrms have been known to adopt a totally marine lifestyle with a complete lack of any ties to dry land.

The Biscione is a True Wurm (descended from the Linnorms and in turn the Drakes) that is native to northern and central Italy, although relatives of this species are known throughout many of the Mediterranean coasts. Although it largely preys on fish and waterfowl, some specimens can grow large enough to swallow land animals drinking from the rivers it lurks in, and may develop a taste for humans, which resulted in the species being hunted to near extinction in Roman times, with numbers nowadays only just recovering. While it is a freshwater species, it is believed to have speciated from a marine True Wurm native to the waters around Constantinople that is considered extinct today. It is probably the image of this long-gone progenitor which inspired the bronzed serpent brought to Milan from Constantinople in the 11th century by the archbishop Arnolf II of Arsago, which was also called the "biscione" or "vipera"; the former would soon also be used to refer to the species of True Wurm native to the subtropical territory around the city of Milan. The Biscione became a protected species associated with Milan when the Visconti dynasty gained control over the city in 1277. Even after the Visconti family died out in the 15th century, the emblem of a Biscione swallowing a human (or other less morbid things like flowers or the sovereign's orb and cross) remained in the city heraldry and became part of the coats of arms of the House of Sforza. A few specimens were also imported by queen Bona Sforza to the towns of Sanok, Poland and Pruzhany, Belarus in the early 14th century, where they ended up turning feral and have continued presiding ever since.

The blue color of the Biscione is normally much duller than as shown in images of the creature, even with the limited color palette common to most European heraldry. Its blue-gray coloration helps it camouflage while underwater and conceal it until it lunges out at prey, with the brighter blue only turning up during the breeding season.

Special thanks to TyrantisTerror on Tumblr for the prompts for this Smoktober art challenge! The link to the challenge is here:

tyrantisterror.tumblr.com/post…