Real Dragon Found!

reply to post by JibbyJedi


one time my cats caught a flying squirrel and brought it inside without harming it, then it got away from them and got into the rafters. after awhile it actually flew in the house like it was taunting the cats, much to their displeasure.

eventually i threw a towel over it and let it go outside.

the lizard is pretty cool, but it doesn't seem very dragonish. it might make a good pet, but i doubt it's lifespan is very long.

Originally posted by NeoVain
reply to post by nineix

 

Not sure those are wings at all... Lizard have to low metabolism to maintain wings flapping... Those are most probably used when swimming underwater.

Or gliding from tree to tree like flying squirrels do and just imagine giant prehistoric lizards,aka dinosaurs,gliding around and if any of them survived up until ancient china and through to the middle ages,they would be called dragons...

reply to post by Agarta


I'm going to call this a tomato, tomato, potato, potato argument.
If you've been there and done it, as I've done with skydiving in 'flying' while in freefall, and again under canopy, or as Phage does with Hang Gliders, as a participant and experiencer, you've a definite feel for flying, regardless what the ground lovers say.

I challenge you to do it. Go hang glide, skydive, or take up glider piloting. Your perception will change.

Originally posted by Agarta
reply to post by nineix

 

These lizards glide because it is controlled falling.

Correct, keywords - controlled falling. We can argue semantics about what is gliding vs flying, but I think the consensus considers gliding something different than flying.

Phage, if you can keep that glider up indefinitely by choice, or at least in sustained flight for long periods of time, then I'd call it flying for sure.

reply to post by JibbyJedi

I take off from the ground using my legs for power. Granted, it's elevated ground.
At my primary flying site I stay in the air until I get thirsty (cold beverages are waiting at the LZ). At other sites that may not always be the case and I end up having a "sled ride", but it's still flying.

I am engaging in unpowered flight. So are the lizards.
en.wikipedia.org...

Source: Animal Planet



Edit to say: Argue with animal planet.

reply to post by Agarta

Yes. Yes they do.
And gliding is unpowered flight.

reply to post by nineix


No I have not hand glided, although it does look fun, but I am a herpetologist does that qualify me to comment on a lizard? Your call. I could have given a lot of information to you for this thread about these beautiful and wondrous creatures, but with all the trolling on semantics I think I am done. It was a great thread.

Source

flight
1.
the act, manner, or power of flying.
2.
the distance covered or the course taken by a flying object: a 500-mile flight; the flight of the ball.
3.
a trip by an airplane, glider, etc.
4.
a scheduled trip on an airline: a 5 o'clock flight.
5.
a number of beings or things flying or passing through the air together: a flight of geese.

adjective
1.
making flight or passing through the air; that flies: a flying insect; an unidentified flying object.
2.
floating, fluttering, waving, hanging, or moving freely in the air: flying banners; flying hair.
3.
extending through the air.
4.
moving swiftly.
5.
made while moving swiftly: a flying leap.

noun
10.
the act of moving through the air on wings; flight.

"Flying" is anything that involves lift. A parachute is a controlled fall, a hang glider is flying. The winged surface produces lift. The only reason to start on elevated ground is to build up enough speed to produce the lift, and after that it becomes a very technical balancing act between speed and altitude.

Yes, many hang gliders and other gliders can fly indefinitely if they get "thermals." The longest glider flight is well over 1000 miles! That is much more than a controlled fall.

As for these being dragons, they would have to spit fire. I believe dragons did exist, but the organic material that could tell us of their fiery breath would be lost in fossils, so we can only guess. There are many things today that spit venom, or create electrical shocks, or bioluminescence, so why couldn't something also produce a flame? This is a cute little lizard, and now we need to find its big fire breathing cousin.

reply to post by Phage


That must be an awesome freeing feeling. How long is your average sustained flight?
I'm a wannabe surfer not a glider, I'd rather be flying than riding waves. I can't even guesstimate how long you could sustain flight with ideal wind conditions, how many hours? Is that New Zealand scenery?

What a beautiful little creature. I love seeing new discoveries of animals. There are so many species that are unknown to us. Thanks for posting

There's a reason why this guy is small. It's because we killed all of his huge ancestors. Animals seem to miniturize in order to avoid detection from us... hence why spiders are so small these days. They know their place on the food chain [/mostly sarcasm]

Originally posted by JibbyJedi
reply to post by Phage

 

That must be an awesome freeing feeling. How long is your average sustained flight?
I'm a wannabe surfer not a glider, I'd rather be flying than riding waves. I can't even guesstimate how long you could sustain flight with ideal wind conditions, how many hours? Is that New Zealand scenery?

I didnt inherit a "fearlessness gene" from my father,so i've never flown and i wont be flying anytime soon and my inner voice has often told me that if i ever do go up into the sky in an airplane,that airplane "will crash" and it "will kill" me,so i never will and i'm not a bird or a dragon,god didnt give me wings to fly,or fins and gills to swim with sharks either and so i'll never be eaten by a shark,unless of course a mega-tsunami comes along and washes one up into my back yard...

I know people in their 30's and 40's who are terrified of driving and they have never driven a car before and i cant say i blame them,driving a car is the most dangerous thing that most of us do and car crashes kill about a million people every year world wide,but oh well,nothing stands in the way of our "so called progress" and our "greed driven rat race" not even a million human lives lost every year...

Can he be trained to light a cigarette?

reply to post by JibbyJedi

I usually land after about an hour.
If the waves were as uncrowded as the sky I would spent more time surfing than I do flying.
The current duration record (endurance really, sort of like flag pole sitting) is about 24.5 hours.
Not New Zealand...but it is on an island.

I wonder what a lizard could do in ridge lift.

It's not a real Dragon if it doesn't breathe fire.

reply to post by Phage

The current duration record (endurance really, sort of like flag pole sitting) is about 24.5 hours.

I'd call that "flying" in that case. Anything more than 1 hour I'd consider flying, though it may not be an exact definition, it would be my interpretation. Surfing has it's highs, but I can't imagine anything higher than actually being up there in flight. I'd trade with you, I'm drawn to flying but substitute that for surfing and rock climbing, not knocking the waves or mountains but the skies are the place to be.

reply to post by getreadyalready
Birds dont fly,they glide upon and within rising currents of warm air called thermal up-drafts...

Such a cute little creature he does look like a miniature dragon..I hope they just let these lizard 's stay in the wild to produce and be happy id hate to see them in pet stores in the future all natures animals deserve to be wild and free..peace,sugarcookie1

reply to post by blocula

That is called soaring and it is still flying.
There are a number of different sources of lift, not just thermals.