Imp and Dragon

[JonahFalcon]

I find it disturbing that from his perspective, the Imp could sex the dragon almost immediately.

[Salty]

I have never seen the word sex used in that format, but yes, I guess it is odd. If you want to think in a less inappropriate way, Qarr could be lying, and he may know her. Alternatively, Qarr could be guessing, or maybe Qarr is an expert in dragon anatomy. Magic. You could also blame magic. Or you could keep your mind in the gutter, and act like a typical human.:smallbiggrin:

[Optimystik]

Intimate knowledge of draconic anatomy isn't necessary; the dragon could simply have a feminine voice. In general, women sound different from men, and only the musical accents of elves tend to really confuse that.

[JonahFalcon]

I have never seen the word sex used in that format, but yes, I guess it is odd. If you want to think in a less inappropriate way, Qarr could be lying, and he may know her. Alternatively, Qarr could be guessing, or maybe Qarr is an expert in dragon anatomy. Magic. You could also blame magic. Or you could keep your mind in the gutter, and act like a typical human.:smallbiggrin:

To sex: to identify a creature's gender.

Ie. Chicken sexing is an important job in the poultry industry.

[David Argall]

Determining the sex of a dragon is probably not difficult if you have much opportunity to study them or have anybody willing to train you.
We can have most any conclusion we want here, but the default assumption is that she is a female dragon.

[Shadowbane]

Voice, mannerisms. I'm no expert on dragons, but I imagine these things would say a lot.

Maybe even the shape of the horns says something. *shrug*

[Chronos]

Maybe even the shape of the horns says something. *shrug*I don't think that's it... Miss October (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0188.html), presumably a fine specimen of the epitome of draconic femininity, has horns which look much more like those of the Young Adult black dragon than those of the Ancient one. In fact, they're even shorter, and given the tendency of such magazines to feature models at the youngest end of adulthood, my guess is that the horn shape and size is an indicator of age, not sex.

[Corwin Weber]

It's a valid point. It's almost impossible to tell the sex of most reptiles just by looking at them. Generally it's only possible when there's some substantial difference between the two genders, such as size. Reptiles don't have external genitalia, so you really can't tell by looking that way. (And, as Belkar discovered, even if you have.... access.... to the relevant anatomy you kinda do have to know what you're examining to have any idea.)

[DrGonzo]

Maybe it's the same as with common lizards and iguanas? (although I havo no idea how that works...)

[Corwin Weber]

Maybe it's the same as with common lizards and iguanas? (although I havo no idea how that works...)

That is basically how it works. The male sex organs in reptiles are internal. They're not built like mammals with dangly bits. Unless there's a substantial difference between males and females, like the males being substantially larger or something, it's almost impossible to tell just by looking at them. Details vary from species to species of course, but that's the overall rule.

[Caleniel]

Intimate knowledge of draconic anatomy isn't necessary; the dragon could simply have a feminine voice. In general, women sound different from men, and only the musical accents of elves tend to really confuse that.

Mmm... yes. To me, this dragon sounds exactly like Susan Sarandon. But that might possibly just be the effect of watching "Enchanted" with my kids last weekend... :smallsmile:

[thubby]

from my understanding, dragons share more with cats than lizards (as per draconomicon). distinct lack of *ahem*
he is a demon, and is probably used to dealing with extremely powerful beings (dragons are pretty high up there). it may be something he picked up on.
distinct voice/frame.
he's simply identifying a creature as a default she (not uncommon irl)

[Threeshades]

Did anyone of you ever get the idea that dragons might not be true reptiles? Upright leg position, six limbs, backward growing horns, innate magic, fire/ice/sonic/acid breath, ability to articulate in human languages and most probably being endotherm (since dragons are not known for sunbathing in the morning and some of them live in extremely cold regions) are not exactly reptilian features. So their genders might be a lot easier to identify than those of reptiles.

[daggaz]

Females of egg laying species are invariably larger and duller in color than males of the same species... Plus in regards to dragons, it is well known that female dragons have longer lashes and wear makeup, as well as having sexier growls. Smoke rings thereof tend to be heart-shaped.

[Assassin89]

Females of egg laying species are invariably larger and duller in color than males of the same species... Plus in regards to dragons, it is well known that female dragons have longer lashes and wear makeup, as well as having sexier growls. Smoke rings thereof tend to be heart-shaped.

So you are basing your assumption off of the animated film Shrek?

It is possible that dragons lack sexual dimorphism, but there might be an odd scent from the dragon, which could be used to determine gender, if said scent is pheromones.

[Caleniel]

So you are basing your assumption off of the animated film Shrek?

It is possible that dragons lack sexual dimorphism, but there might be an odd scent from the dragon, which could be used to determine gender, if said scent is pheromones.


Hm. Lack of sexual dimorphism makes "playdrake" a bit of a conundrum. Maybe it's printed on scented paper?

:smallamused:

[DigoDragon]

Did anyone of you ever get the idea that dragons might not be true reptiles?

"DRA-GON. Not lizard. I don't do that tounge thing." :smallsmile:

I vote for your idea, it has much merit.

[David Argall]

Females of egg laying species are invariably larger and duller in color than males of the same species...
The common chicken features a large male and small female.
There seems to be several factors involved here. A major factor seems to be the ability to monopolize access to several females. If a big male can chase off small males and mate with several females, males grow large. If females are so scattered a male has to put full time into just finding one, the male shrinks.
In the case of some snakes in colder climes, the male becomes small because he can rape larger females. The snakes sleep in balls of snakes during the winter to save heat. Come spring, they move out and sun themselves to get back in motion. The smaller the snake, the faster it can heat up, which means the small male can be ready to go before the large female is really awake enough to ask what is going on. The larger male take more time to heat up, and thus has less time for love.

Now our dragons are normally described as solitary, which favors larger females, but there are plenty of exceptions, so we can adopt either picture.

[Ozymandias9]

Females of egg laying species are invariably larger and duller in color than males of the same species... Plus in regards to dragons, it is well known that female dragons have longer lashes and wear makeup, as well as having sexier growls. Smoke rings thereof tend to be heart-shaped.

As David pointed out, that simply isn't true. There are even a large number of oviparous species that exhibit no visible sexual dimorphism.

And as far as we know, that only applies to the female dragons trying to get it on with donkeys, though it might well apply to those interested in any type of odd-toed ungulates.

[Optimystik]

Mmm... yes. To me, this dragon sounds exactly like Susan Sarandon. But that might possibly just be the effect of watching "Enchanted" with my kids last weekend... :smallsmile:

To me she sounds like Meryl Streep; she's evil :smalleek:

[Corwin Weber]

Size just plain varies between species. In some species, (especially birds) males tend to be smaller than egg laying females. (They also frequently tend to be much more brightly colored.) In others, (particularly some varieties of reptile) males are larger, stronger and more aggressive. In still others, (birds, reptiles, and amphibians) there's no particularly noticeable difference. There really is no hard and fast rule here.

...I mean, look at how you traditionally sex crocodilians, for FSM's sake....