So you are wondering if dragons can either be classified as reptiles or birds? If this is the case then you’ve come to the right article as I’ll give you an answer to this question. Also, you should make sure that you keep on reading this article till the end as I’ll also cover a few more closely related questions where you don’t want to miss the answers too.
Are dragons reptiles or birds? Opinions about the answer to this question are going to differ because dragons are fictional creatures but generally you can expect dragons to show more characteristics of reptiles and maybe a few characteristics of birds.
Some of the characteristics that dragons normally have are scaly skin, a cold-blooded body, they breathe air, and lay hard eggs. All of these characteristics can also be seen in reptiles and there are a few that can also be seen in birds like, for example, being able to lay eggs.
Another aspect that can be seen in dragons is that they’re able to fly which is also a characteristic that can be found in birds and therefore dragons can have different characteristics that birds also have.
It is hard to classify a fictional animal
Generally, it is very hard to classify a fictional animal-like, for example, a dragon because fictional animals will have different characteristics in every single storyline. In, for example, the well-known movie series “Game Of Thrones”, dragons show characteristics of both lizards and birds as dragons in these series have scales and can also fly. In other movies though, it can, for example, be that dragons look like snakes and are unable to fly.
If you can’t get enough of learning about dragons then I encourage you to check out the “Dragons Category Page” which consists of various articles that give answers to dragon-related questions.
Why are dragons classified as reptiles?
Dragons are mainly classified as reptiles because generally, dragons show the most similarities in characteristics with reptiles. It is, however, also true that dragons will show several characteristics of birds as well from time to time. But mainly they will show reptile-like characteristics.
Some of the reptile-like characteristics that can be seen in dragons and that cannot be seen in birds are, for example, that they are covered in scales, have waterproof skin, and that they have four legs.
Why can dragons also be classified as birds?
Although dragons generally show the most characteristics of reptiles, there are also characteristics that birds and reptiles share that can be found in dragons and also a few unique characteristics that can be found in birds and dragons like, for example, dragons having wings and being able to fly.
One of the characteristics that reptiles and birds have in common and can also be seen in dragons are that dragons will lay hard eggs.
What characteristics of both reptiles and birds do dragons have?
Various characteristics are normally seen in fictional dragons. Examples of characteristics of both reptiles and birds that can be seen in dragons are:
- They have wings like birds.
- They can fly like birds.
- They are covered in scales.
- They produce hard eggs.
- They have waterproof skin.
- They are likely cold-blooded like reptiles.
- They have four legs like reptiles have too.
There are probably a lot more characteristics of reptiles and birds that can be seen in dragons but the ones I’ve mentioned above are most likely the major ones. There are, for example, also characteristics that cannot be seen in either reptiles or birds like, for example, the characteristic that dragons can produce fire out of their mouths.
Related questions
Is a dragon a lizard or a snake?
In Eastern cultures, dragons are usually seen as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures which have lizard-like characteristics. And the earliest reports about dragons resemble giant snakes. So, all in all, opinions differ all around the world about whether dragons are lizards or snakes.
Are dragons amphibians?
We already know that opinions differ about whether dragons are either reptiles or snakes. But what we do know is that either reptiles or snakes are not amphibians and therefore dragons are not amphibians either. However, dragons stay fictional animals and therefore opinions will differ.
What kind of animals are dragons?
Because dragons are fictional animals there aren’t any animals that live on this earth that can have the same characteristics as dragons. The animal that would come the closest to looking like a dragon is probably the komodo dragon.
Check out the video below if you want to see a video of the largest lizard on earth “The Komodo Dragon”.
Conclusion
You now know that it is quite hard to give a classification to a fictional animal as characteristics about dragons will differ from storyline to storyline. But generally, though, you can expect dragons to show more characteristics of reptiles than that of birds because dragons will, for example, have scales, have waterproof skin, and have four legs. There are, however, also a few characteristics of birds that can be seen in dragons, for example, dragons having wings and being able to fly.
