#is a bat a dragon

[torpublishinggroup]

Is a Bat a Dragon? We Asked James Rollins

By now, Tor is at the forefront of research into what exactly constitutes "dragon." We've entertained many queries throughout the years, determining if the umbrella of dragon extends to hippos, snakes, and Godzilla. Now, we turn to the expertise of James Rollins to advise on the dragonic status of bats. If you've read The Starless Crown and its sequel The Cradle of Ice, you probably know the answer.

Check it out!

by James Rollins      

My love for the natural world and all its myriad creatures was one of my main drives for pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. Even today as a full-time writer, I’ve not fully stepped away from that profession. As I’ve stated many times during book talks—yes, I can still neuter a cat in under thirty seconds.

Still, my greatest fascination about Nature is how it adheres to a dictate stated so succinctly in Jurassic Park:  Life will find a way.  I’ve always been captivated by the manner in which animals and plants discover innovative survival strategies to fill different environmental niches and how that fight has resulted in all the marvels (and horrors) found in the natural world.

While growing up, I found a new way of exploring this subject matter:  in science fiction and fantasy novels set on different worlds. I found myself especially drawn to material that explored life’s resilience across fantastic worlds. Whether it was the sandworms of Herbert’s Dune, the engineered landscape of Niven’s Ringworld, the many species of Card’s Ender’s Game, or a universe of other writers tackling how life finds a way.

Even when it came to those novels that featured dragons, I found myself most interested in the biology and the circumstance of their origins. How did the telepathy and bonding in Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books come about? What steps were taken to harness the physicality of dragons to become warriors in Novik’s Temeraire series? In Martin’s books, could dragon eggs truly be encysted for ages and require fire to bring them back to life? If so, how and why?

When it came to crafting my own fantastic world in the Moonfall Saga, I took a similar scientific eye to its construction. The series takes place on a tidally locked planet, a world that circles its sun with one side forever facing the sun, the other locked in eternal darkness. The only truly livable clime is the band between those extremes of ice and fire. Across such a harsh and unforgiving landscape, I wanted to build a biosphere of flora and fauna that made evolutionary sense. How would species survive the extreme cold and lack of sunlight? Could life find a way in the sunblasted hemisphere?

And what about dragons?

In the novel, one of the apex predators is a species of massive bat, with a wingspan of ten meters or more. We first see them in Book One (The Starless Crown). They inhabit the vast swamplands of Mýr—found in that more temperate climate of the world. They are nocturnal, haunting a drowned forest and roosting in a volcanic mountain. I wanted those bats to make biological sense, to have them fit that environmental niche in a natural way. Being arboreal, they would likely have evolved prehensile tails. As nocturnal creatures, they would need bell-shaped ears and still use ultrasonics to navigate. And without giving away any of the surprises in the books, there is a significant aspect to their biology that will allow them to bond to certain people.

In the books, I also wanted to add a level of verisimilitude to the bestiary by adding naturalistic sketches, drawings that you might find in a turn-of-the-century research journal.

Here is the Mýr bat:

Keep in mind, life will find a way, so this species is not limited to those swamplands. A subspecies evolved in the dark, frozen half of the world. It adapted to fit that harsh niche, becoming smaller and stockier, with shaggy fur, and nasal flaps that could seal to conserve body heat. Likewise, in this treeless landscape, that prehensile tail would no longer be needed. They make an appearance in the second book in the series, The Cradle of Ice.

Here is their sketch:

But what about the title of this blog post: Is a bat a dragon?

In the third volume in the series (A Dragon of Black Glass), which will be coming out in 2024, this species has also adapted to the sunblasted half of the world. To survive, they would need to burrow to survive, growing larger claws for digging, and bodies that would be hairless and elongated, with fanned tails for aerial maneuvering when out of their burrows. They would become known as “sanddragons.”

Here is a sneak peek at their preliminary incarnation (with the final version still to come):

I must note that all of these drawings were beautifully executed by graphic artist, Danea Fidler—as were all the other creature sketches featured in the books. I look forward to sharing the final versions of these “dragons” in 2024 when A Dragon of Black Glass hits bookshelves.

#tor books #dragon week #james rollins #is a bat a dragon #fantasy #booklr #the starless crown #moonfall #the cradle of ice #a dragon of black glass #danea fidler

[egophiliac]

I have SO many thoughts about everything and they are in no kind of order yet, so here's just some quick little bits in the meantime!

I am not normal about any of these characters!

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 part 6 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 part 6 spoilers #me just staring at the ceiling thinking about anime characters #if i start talking about the big stuff now it's going to turn into a huge rambling mess so in the meantime #i did not get sebek (yet) (i need to contemplate my gems...) but i did see his groovy #he is just full-on cinderella-sparkles bibbidi-bobbidi-booing into that armor! magnificent. #and i really don't have enough words for how much i love tiny malleus. he is perfect. he is precious. he is everything to me. #he knows who his dad is no matter what some crusty dead talking ectoplasm blobs say #(man no wonder lilia's got hangups if THAT was the general attitude he was getting) #('eww you got your dirty bat cooties on the prince' go sit in the corner with mrs. rosehearts you absolute garbage) #(...i did kind of love that lilia started to wake up because the senate said one nice thing to him) #(and he immediately was like 'this is not reality') #(sounds about right) #on a lighter note i was just. SO charmed by the little throwaway about ✨dragon lord consort esteemed diplomat revaan✨ #who picks the vegetables out of his food and hides them under the tablecloth #everything i learn about this man makes me like him more. he was SO dumb. #now we know where malleus gets it from i guess #also unrelated but once again the fact that i named my mc tamago has had unintentional consequences #tamago take the tamago and tamago tamagao tamago #frikkin love that when yuu gives the egg back you can just be like 'i love him. this is my baby now.' 100% accurate. #also yuu continually referring to malleus as tsunotarou even to the senate = amazing. yuu really has NO self-preservation or awareness. #they fit right in with everyone else #<- see what did i tell you. huge rambling mess. #and i haven't even BEGUN to talk about MELEANOR -- (is dragged offstage by a hook)

[ailithnight]

DPxDC Prompt #8

Danny was practicing shapeshifting with Amorpho when he felt the tug of a summoning and heard the distant words drifting into his mind.

Normally Danny would just ignore it. Or if it seems like this was a group that needed some sense scared into them, he'd shift into his Horror form and terrify them into never pulling this shit again. But then he heard them mention live sacrifices, and Danny just had to step in before that happened. So he let the summoning pull him on through, briefly forgetting he was shapeshifted into a... less than ideal form.

Danny lands in the circle right on top of one of the intended sacrifices, a group of people in weird outfits and, is that guy green? Irrelevant. Immediately Danny on knows something is very wrong. His powers feel muted and far away. His form suddenly feels, locked somehow.

He casts his gaze across the summoning circle and, to his horror, recognizes the binding ritual. These cultists wanted to bind and seal him in one of these mortal's bodies after they were sacrificed. But they fucked up the spell. Or maybe Danny fucked it up by coming in too soon? Irrelevant again.

What matters is the spell went sideways. Instead of locking Danny into one of the sacrifice's bodies, it locked him into his own form while pulling most of his abilities just out of reach. Now he's here. In the shape of- He's stuck as-

"Dude, is that a pigeon? Did the Ghost King, like, send you to voicemail?"

#DPxDC Prompt #DPxDC #technically #DPxTeen Titans #The tv show version #With Robin Starfire Cyborg Raven and Beast Boy #I've seen a lot of Danny shapeshifted as different animals prompts #Cat bat duck goose dragon raccoon seal #Don't think I've seen pigeon though #And I got the line 'Did the Ghost King send you to voicemail?' about Pigeon!Danny showing up in the Ghost King's summoning #And I just had to throw that out here #Also Danny is supposed to look like a normal pigeon here #Maybe some slightly odd coloration #But part of the shapeshifting practice was learning how to shift into something that would pass for normal in the Mortal Realms

[welldrawnfish]

Collab with @kaylasartwork and @nyxisart !

Part One: HERE! Part Two Part Three

#transgender #art #my art #transgirl #illustration #original art #transisbeautiful #comics #oc #doodle #fantasy hrt #creature hrt #animal hrt #therian #bat hrt #dragon hrt #furry hrt

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny was...unnerved, which is unusual considering his upbringing as the child of mad scientists obsessed with the undead.

It had been a few weeks since he had moved into Wayne manor after a conflict between batman and his parents, which led to his home and his friends and family being blown up in a lab malfunction. Most of Amity Park was destroyed in the blasts, including Vlad and his mansion.

Usually Danny would be more suspicious of super rich dudes, but the sorrow in Bruce Wayne's eyes as he pleaded to let Danny take him in was genuine and well, Danny didn't exactly have anywhere else to go. Plus, Bruce looked weirdly guilty when danny told him none of this was his fault, which was weird. Jazz was in college and always looked exhausted on video calls, so he didn't want to bother her there.

The part that bothered him most wasn't that there was anything dangerous or bad happening, but rather the opposite.

Danny was used to dodging his home security system when it randomly targeted him. He was used to ghosts popping up out of nowhere to suckerpunch him. He was used to danger.

And now that there was none, he was jumping at shadows.

Things got better when he met Psaro. He was in the process of being either mugged or kidnapped, he wasn't sure, when this angry goth teen with silver hair and ruby eyes literally came in swinging a steel chair. After the beat down and subsequent rescue, Danny offered to buy them some food. Psaro tried to reject the offer until his stomach suddenly growled, making him blush, and Danny dragged the older goth teen to a restaurant.

They've been best friends since. Psaro later introduced him to his friends Rose and Toilen, explaining that they weren't from this world and that Rose was an elf and Toilen was a Teran from a planet called Terrestria. Danny assumed that Psaro was an elf like Rose due to them both having long pointed ears and mostly focused on Toilen thanks to the "other planet" bit.

Meanwhile, the bats have been keeping an eye out on Danny (aka stalking him) and his new, obviously magical friends.

#dpxdc #prompts #dragon quest #dragon quest monsters #fanfiction prompts #danny fenton #danny phantom #batman #bruce wayne #bruce has regrets and blames himself for the death of dannys loved ones #psaro the manslayer #was anyone going to tell me that Psaros last name is apparently Banesword or was i supposed to read that online myself #the hero and his party are still wanting to murder our little pouty goth baby and i will not stand for it #the bats see how paranoid danny is and heard him talking about the nightmare security system and all that so theyre overprotective of him #them finding out Psaro is a teenage demon lord either isnt going to go over well or he gets adopted

[swordfangs]

no fighting... qintermoon

#art #fanart #qibli #winter #moonwatcher #qinter #moonbli #winterwatcher #wings of fire #wof #dragons #dragon #sandwing #icewing #nightwing #i had this sketch in my files for a little bit... i love drawing dragok... #also thank u person for suggesting bat-like features on nightwings. so moons nose is funky #winter/qibli/moon #qinterwatcher

[raynoddle]

So, dragon pokemon Miku is not Noivern. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Anyway, I made my own.

#project voltage #hatsune miku #pokemon #dragon #noivern #I don't care that Miraidon is a pun on Hatsune Miku #I just want my bat boi

[indorak]

Milo, but species swapped!

#wanted to see how he'd look fluffy #isn't he cute? #furry #fursona #furry art #furry artist #furry oc #artists on the spectrum #art commission #anthro art #sfw furry #cute furry #chubby #cat #fox #bat #dragon #drawing #oc

[puppetmaster13u]

The Au is Ra has been using the Lazarus pits for so long that causes him to see Danny like a human or his normal Phantom form Ra the only one that sees Danny like that

I love the idea of Deadly Decision getting together but Ra has no idea that Danny is no human he just thinks that Danny has his own Lazarus pit hidden somewhere away from him

Like Danny is full blown glowing white hair, green eyes, Sharp Fangs, an electrical being

Ra point at tall being of Life And Death it looks like he's about to rip you apart: This Is My Wife Danny.

Like sometimes people just ask him if he sees anything unhumanly about Danny and

Ra is like: What Are You Talking About ?

Danny's in the background forming Stars into his hand I'm trying to make himself a new sword

Talia and Dusan we're raised by Danny and Ra they just gotten used to also considering getting to be a normal human they find it hilarious to play along with their other two siblings Dan and Danielle that Mom is human

Slade: I've been meaning to ask what about that monster Ra has locked up back there

Talia: You Mean Mother

Slade: that's your mother I didn't know Ra al Ghul was attracted to on human beings

Dusan: what do you mean unhumanly our mother is perfectly normal he's not even assassin

Danielle walking out of his shadow: Maybe Your Mother Was The Weird One

Dan floating near Talia: Get the hell out how dare you disrespect our Mama

All of them are girlboss, gatekeep, and gaslight people into believe Danny is normal

Damien will give warning that his grandmother does not look like a Human they were all expecting meta not electric being

Danny got so used to Ra al Ghul no his Husban treating him like a normal person when he's like this that he forgot that everyone might not that treat him like that

Honestly? I love this.

And you know what? Danny might need someone like that, who even as his humanity slips away still treats him as human, as not an eldritch creature of Space, of everything Between. Someone who treats him as well, him. Is his and Ras relationship healthy? Well maybe not in human terms, but do either of them count as such anymore?

The idea of the kids playing along is also amazing lol. Especially that Jordan and Ellie? Definitely same hat as Danny. Sure their forms still look sort of human, but that just makes it very uncanny valley. So others and siblings who treat them the same? They need it just as much- if nothing else than to not become so arrogant and uncaring of humanity that they could watch the world end without a blink.

Which, Damian! I bet Danny absolutely adores the grandbaby. I bet he crafts little ice bats and miniature planets to swirl above his crib. I bet he has a literal strip of space and stars on his ceiling. And Damian isn't the only grandbaby too- Dusan has a daughter in some timelines too. Not to mention Ras' adoptive daughter Nyssa, who he gave one of the Lazarus Pits to.

But speaking of Damian, I have to know what that would mean for Jason. Who was practically completely braindead before being thrown into the Pit. Who would have probably met Danny while there because I can't see Danny not also gently doting on another grandson.

Gosh I honestly am just really enjoying this whole thing lol.

#ask answered #deadly decisions #dcxdp #dpxdc #prompts #Not Ghost King Danny #Let Jason & Damian be Brothers #Give Me Primordial Being of Space Danny #And not just like ooh stars space but like literal Every Space #He knows where everything is even in the Infinite space #Anyway- #Danny definitely gives each of his family members handcrafted meteoric swords #OMG CUJO #Does the whole League just go 'yep that's a normal dog nothing to see here' about him lmao #Damian later with his demon bat-dragon Goliath: Father I don't see what's wrong they are just a puppy #Huh Ras might have a decent relationship with his grandkids in this with how smitten he is

[prollymad]

@ayviedoesthings Obsessed with the hrt stuff.

#dragon hrt #animal hrt #otherkin #furry #transgender #hrt #puppy hrt #bat hrt #fish hrt #dragon

[abisalli]

More Damian doodles but with Wiggles the Dragon please? Everyone always forgets the little guy has a dragon

of course he has a pet dragon

#bad doodles #Damian wayne #robin #dc comics #batman #my art #digital art #didn't know Damian had a dragon at one point but I'm honestly not surprised #but wow that's one big dragon #edit: forgot that Goliath is also a dragon. in my mind he’s always just some bat monster

[bonestrewncrest]

i WAS in the middle of drawing odahviing and started some other dragons but my pc had a girl moment and i lost the file but. it saved this at least

#bats are both a good and bad reference to use for this #rorys art #skyrim #tes #the elder scrolls #dragon #odahviing #tes v #tes 5

[oldschoolfrp]

"Sword of Dawn" (Charles Vess cover for Dragon 134, June 1988)

#D&D #Dungeons & Dragons #Charles Vess #Dragon magazine #sword #dnd #Sword of Dawn #bats #bat #stirge #clouds #dawn #Dungeons and Dragons #TSR

[front-facing-pokemon]

#noivern #one of my all-dragon team's staples! thus i have a soft spot for this pokémon. not really for any other reason than that #just a cool badass design. big bat dragon. objectively badass #though i think it should be a dragon/dark type instead of dragon/flying. hydreigon typing #also hi it's me from the future. a few hours before this posts. i just want to complain a little bit #about how fucking difficult this is getting now that i'm getting into alolan forms in the queue #i don't. fucking. know how to use blender. this is kicking my ass. i spent like two hours this morning just trying to get those alolan form #working. and i didn't even successfully do that for two of them #so if you like alolan forms i am Really sorry but they are not gonna be up to par for the production value i have set for myself on this #blog. i've fuckin doomed myself by getting this much of a following and i know i can't get away with the same shit i used to #be able to so like. just fuckin bear with me please it's turning into a whole wreck here in the future in gen 7

[bogcreacher]

Rainwing royalty concepts. Bat n Lotus are hybrids, and the latter three are all dating the queen

also shhhh i forgot to draw Jaguarundi's ruff

#horst #my art #oc art #oc stuff #wof art #wings of fire #dragon art #jaguarundi #python #bat #lotus

[themaskofthephantom]

Little Jellycat Sage Dragon Stimboard

Please be kind. This is the first stimboard I’ve tried to make. It’s full of all of the things my own dragon enjoys. Full credit for the gifs goes to the blogs listed in the tags.

#stimboard #jellycat dragon #sage dragon #tea #embroidery #rain #books & libraries #grass #@bubbly-stims #@biohazardstims #@bats-in-the-snow #@toastedstims #@royallaesthetics #sfw agere #age regression #agere #the tea dragon society