A WHAT IF BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Tim Martin

WI:  Dragons Were Real?

The Land Dragon
        Land dragons, of the genus Draco, are actually a group of very large monitor lizards, not unlike the Komodo Dragon of East Indies. Unlike the Komodo Dragon, they are generally faster, more agile, more voracious predators, and are found over much of the Old World (no varieties known to exist in either of the Americas).
        The genus Draco is Varanidae family, which includes monitor lizards, all of which are of the genus Varanus. Both Draco and Varanus are characterized by a small head and great mobility of the neck, and both genus are keen predators and sometime scavengers. The Varanus genus has about twenty species living in Africa, Asia, and Australia, and includes the Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus) of Africa (growing to 6 ½ feet in length) and the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) of Indonesia (often more than 10 feet in length).
        The genus Draco cannot fly; another type of “dragon” has that ability. Though largely land bound, at least one variety, the Arabian Dragon, can and does spend considerable time at sea, and the Lake Chad Dragon’s food supply has a high proportion of aquatic organisms in it. Other species are able to cross large bodies of water, as evidenced by the now extinct Madeira Dragon.
        Draco do not possess the true ability to breathe fire, but at least one species, the now extinct Mediterranean Dragon, did evolve the ability to shoot forth jets of blood from its eye ducts in a manner similar to the horned toads of the American Southwest and northern Mexico.  Use the below links to learn more.

Dragons of-

           EUROPE- The Mediterranean or Common Dragon, and the Medeira Dragon.

           AFRICA- The Saharan Dragon, and the Lake Chad Dragon.

           ASIA- The Arabian Dragon, and the Great Thar Dragon.

           THE PACIFIC- The Malaysian Dragon, the Ryukyu Dragon and the New Zealand Dragon.

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