The Dragon Stone

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This page explains some of the terms used in the Dragon Biology sections.

Biped: A creature that walks on two legs.

Carnivore: A creature that eats meat.

Ectotherm: An animal that has to maintain its temperature using outside sources. Commonly called cold-blooded. Modern reptiles are ectotherms.
Endotherm: An animal that maintains its temeprature internally. Commonly called warm-blooded. Modern mammals are endotherms.

Genus: A closely related group of species. For example, the species name of humans is Homo sapiens. Homo is the genus.
Gliding: Gliding flight is used here to mean flight that is not powered. A glider has to gain height when they start the glide, such as by jumping off something or jumping into the air. A hang-glider flies by gliding.

Powered Flight: This describes when a species can genuinely fly. They can gain height through their own power. An aeroplane and a helicopter both use powered flight.

Quadruped: An animal that walks on four legs.

Species: There are several definitions of species. Some are more complicated than others. In this section it is used to mean a group of creatures of the same type. They will be able to reproduce together and those babies will also be able to reproduce.