Editing Draconic Taxonomy
From TemeraireWiki
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
It is also not clear whether European breeds are of the same species as breeds of dragons from China, Central Asia, Africa or the Americas. A [[Dakota]] dragon from Western [[Dragons in Canada|Canada]] was resident for at least a while in two British breeding grounds, Newfoundland and [[Pen Y Fan Breeding Grounds|Pen Y Fan]], but there is no report of resulting eggs. The same is true for a young male [[Celestial]] resident for a period of three months at Pen Y Fan, who had also bred previously with a [[Yellow Reaper]]. Feral dragons from the Pamir Mountains in Central Asia brought to Britain in 1806 and 1807 appear to have preferred to breed with each other. | It is also not clear whether European breeds are of the same species as breeds of dragons from China, Central Asia, Africa or the Americas. A [[Dakota]] dragon from Western [[Dragons in Canada|Canada]] was resident for at least a while in two British breeding grounds, Newfoundland and [[Pen Y Fan Breeding Grounds|Pen Y Fan]], but there is no report of resulting eggs. The same is true for a young male [[Celestial]] resident for a period of three months at Pen Y Fan, who had also bred previously with a [[Yellow Reaper]]. Feral dragons from the Pamir Mountains in Central Asia brought to Britain in 1806 and 1807 appear to have preferred to breed with each other. | ||
− | Celestials represent a particularly interesting case of the complexities involved in establishing a draconic taxonomy. | + | Celestials represent a particularly interesting case of the complexities involved in establishing a draconic taxonomy. They are known to be able to breed with [[Imperial]]s. In fact, periodically a Celestial may be born from the mating of two Imperials, [[Lung Tien Xian]] being an example. The Celestial phenotype may perhaps arise from the expression of recessive traits carried by Imperials. (An alternate hypothesis, that Celestials represent a spontaneous mutation among Imperials, does not explain why Celestial traits are consistent among different lineages. One would expect spontaneous mutations to have random effects.) |
− | + | Furthermore, Imperials are known to be interfertile with [[Shen-Lung|Shen-lung]]. It is the practice in China for the wisest of the Shen-lung to be rewarded with an Imperial mating, a practice that would hardly have continued if such matings never resulted in offspring. Shen-lung in turn are known to have given rise to many other Chinese breeds. | |
− | + | If future data reveal that Celestials, Imperials or Shen-lung are not interfertile with dragons from other nations, thereby ending the possibility of one general ''Draco sapiens'' species, then one might instead propose as a species ''Draco sinensis'', including as subspecies and variants ''Draco sinensis spiritualis'', ''Draco sinensis imperialis'' and ''Draco sinensis imperialis var. caelestis''. However, since it is not known whether or not ''all'' Chinese breeds are interfertile with Shen-lung, it is not possible to determine at this time whether or not all Chinese breeds might be considered members of this hypothetical species. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
References: | References: |