Kaelygon

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Is it a lizard or just a funny looking dog?
I made cover art for my own species!

It sure has been a while since I drew ferals, but I think this ended up pretty alright.
I barely draw nowadays as I mostly focus in 3D art.
Feathers are bit wacky and shading isn't very accurate as I mostly winged it, but I just liked the process of drawing shades.

It's totally fine if you believe that life starts at conception.
The thing that actually baffles me are the states that passed anti-abortion laws, but struggle to provide adequate health care, especially for those who are not financially stable.

I found this article, "States with more abortion restrictions have higher maternal and infant mortality", but feel free to correct or educate me on the topic.

Edit: removed "this article" appearing twice and tried to fix preview

Furred dragons have become a wide range of creatures, and classifying them is vague at best, so this will be my subjective view.
My fursona Tiena recently had an identity crisis as I asked the important question What is a dragon?

The most common feature among furred dragons is the snout in the picture, which is usually similar to reptiles and the nostrils are on top of it. But not exclusively, but this is by far the most common trait. I believe that the only requirement for a furred dragon is to have fur or feathers.

Traditional dragons usually are mythological, and one or more of these features: breath attack, large size, wings, scales, whiskers, reptilian features, lays eggs, horns, etc.
There are also dragon types such as, Eastern, Eastern, Wyrm, Serpent, Wyvern, and so on.

Furred dragons don't have strict rules about what they are other than fuzzy dragons.
They may lack wings, have ears, be mammals, and require no supernatural abilities or relation to mythology. Which begs the question of whether they are dragons at all.
Although I have yet to see a furred dragon that doesn't have any draconic features, you may add that as the second required trait.
Of course a creator of their character can ignore the semantics and have any artistic freedom on what makes them a dragon. Not necessarily in a traditional sense.

Originally around 2018 my sona took inspiration from komodo dragons and maned wolves, then 1-2 years later I found about furred dragons, which shared many similarities due to the reptilian aspects. From that point on, I called my sona a furred dragon until now.

I concluded that my sona isn't an actual dragon, as his only dragon-like features are the snout and tail profile, but even those are based on komodo dragons.

So, I made a new species based on maned wolves and komodo dragons and I came up with the very original name feather maned dragon. But since the species is based on early real-life mammals, the name is a misnomer as he's not an actual dragon. Which is rather poetic, and this all comes back to a full circle.

Krita Base: https://kaelygon.gumroad.com/l/ManedDragonBase

This species which is based off my sona Tiena

More details about maned dragons: GitHub

Aaneu is anthro maned dragon as the species itself is feral. He'll be one of the reoccurring reference character.

The character, species lore and concept are public domain, but the art is CC BY 4.0 which only requires crediting me if you use the base.

For example the credit can be watermark in the art, mention or link in same post when you share it.

-Easier birth control: Make the egg into an omelette

-Relaxed child support laws: Requires deliberate decision to incubate the egg

-Clean packaged periods: Egg = No mess!

Although, there would be stories about partners hiding fertilized eggs: Instead of unplanned parenthood we would have unconsensual parenthood

There's probably more nuances I am missing. But do discuss it in the comments.

I started writing a grimdark fantasy based in DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) in Forgotten Realms, where some outcomes are left to a dice roll. I have never written a poem or a book, but I got lost in the topic and building this character.

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I see grimdark being about moral ambiguity, a gruesome world where there are no good choices or endings. This started as a freeform poem from the protagonist's perspective, which led to a tragic ballad-like structure.

-Quatrain

-AABB rhyme pattern

-8 or 9 syllables per line

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The protagonist, "Aaneu", is a rogue/warlock who lost his past life. In the desperation, he made a pact with a trickster patron without realizing the extent of the contract. The ones Aaneu knew in the past, but they don't know him anymore. But they live.

If Aaneu were to defy the pact, he and his past would perish. Aaneu is tasked with cruel deeds, while his past is kept as a hostage. His sheer will and loyalty drive him forward regardless. Selfish acts for a selfless cause.

.

In this new life,

Aaneu is part of a collective "The Veiled Accord" that he is a loyal member and enforcer by choice. The few groups and individuals he's close with, he trusts by life. It's a story about betrayal, longing, and isolation, with contrasting themes about loyalty, nostalgia, and conflicting romance of "green scales".

In mental breakdown, either due to the deeds he did or surfacing memories, he falls into an apathetic state, reciting parts of the poem in tears. Trying to process, what is it that he is after?

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This is just the surface of the character. You can call it edgy or cliche, but I'm really enjoying the theme.

I made this blender render quite a while ago for a drawing reference.

I generated multiple frames with large pixel grain, applied few color curve filters every few frame in krita.

Made those frames into a mp4 and xor:ed random bytes of the binary file using a c++ program.

Few clean up cuts in openshot-qt and made it into a gif with ffmpeg

License: CC0 1.0 Universal Kaelygon 2024

Lacertocyon plumocrista (feather crested lizard dog), also known as feather maned dragon or simply maned dragon. Despite the name and similarities to reptiles and canids, Lacertocyon belongs to an entirely different family, Lacertherids, that diverged from late Eutherians.

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Lacertheriformes
• Family: Lacertheridae
• Genus: Lacertocyon
• Species: plumocrista

Average size: 100 cm at withers, weight 45 kg Speed: Up to 50 km/h in short sprint

Traits

• Warm-blooded, Placental Mammal, Predator, Omnivore, Venomous

Appearance

• Maned dragons are covered in thin fur, and they have a feathered mane that reaches from their head down to the tip of the tail. The mane consists of feather-like keratinous strands evolved from fur.
• This mane can puff up to appear bigger when threatened and acts as a protection and in heat regulation on cold nights.
• Maned dragons have long ears with tufts at the end.
• Their color is a mix of yellows, browns, and greens with lighter countershading. Colorization can also vary depending on the region.
• Maned dragon's teeth resemble those of canines or raccoons, which are suitable for an omnivorous diet.
• Their whiskers are as wide as their body front profile. When traversing narrow pathways, these whiskers would indicate when the gap is too narrow to fit.
• They have five 3-segmented fingers and four 2-segmented toes, which are closer to reptilian hands than canine paws by appearance.
• Skull shape is similar to reptiles, with external nares positioned like crocodiles. It lacks a rhinarium, but smell receptors are still located in the nasal cavity. The nasal cavity is still wet to help with smell
• Maned dragons have long digitigrade legs to be able to see in tall foliage. Making their gait akin to Maned Wolves.
• The similarities to canines and reptiles are largely superficial. These features evolved convergently to compete with modern carnivora.

Behavior

• Maned dragons are diurnal. They have trichromatic color vision, which is more advantageous in foraging, but this comes at the cost of poorer night vision.
• Their habitat is dry tropical forest and semiarid desert, and they are most active around temperatures of 10-25C.
• Maned dragons may share overlapping territories. Despite this, they are rarely aggressive against others unless food is scarce.
• The species is a solitary hunter and can hunt up to 60 kg, but their preferred prey weighs 20-40 kg.
• Maned dragons are omnivorous and often forage and eat various vegetable matter.
• When food is scarce, they can resort to scavenging. Their stomach acid is strong enough to digest bones.
• Any indigestible material, such as fur or large fragments, is regurgitated in compacted pellets.
• Maned dragons communicate via howls and barks or roars like Maned wolves. When they are threatened, they make hissing or growling sounds.

Reproductive organs

• The reproductive organs of maned dragons are similar to those of some aquatic mammals, such as cetaceans, with a few differences.
• Unlike cetaceans, L. plumocrista's anus is located outside the mammary slit before the root of the tail.
• Both male's and female's sexual organs are internal, resulting in a visually flush underside.
• In males, the penis and testes are internal, with the penis extending during mating.
• The species has six teats similar to canines, which are hidden under the fur and become only pronounced in nursing females.
• Outside reproductive organs, the species has very little sexual dimorphism.

Reproduction

• The female gives live birth and nurses a litter of 2 to 6 young with a gestation a period of 3-4 months.
• During this period, the male may share the territory and assist with raising the offspring by hunting and providing protection. They don't necessarily share the same living space until at late stage of the gestation. While the species is mostly solitary, they form some relations between individuals.

Venom

• Maned dragon has venom glands in the lower jaw. Some of the bottom teeth have grooves for the venom.
• Venom is useful when prey is too large to be disabled quickly by teeth and claws alone.
• If the prey becomes troublesome to kill, L. plumocrista may stalk the prey until the venom takes effect.
• The venom may also be used in defense, as it induces intense pain to repel the attacker.

The maned dragon would likely have evolved a unique venom composition with effects similar to these components:

• Intense pain: Bradykinin, Capsaicin
• Muscle paralysis: Dendrotoxin, Fasciculins, Conotoxins
• Venom spread promoters: Phospholipases, Metalloproteinases, Vasodilator

Evolution

• Lacertheriformes diverged from Eutherians some time before carnivora and convergently evolved alongside them, developing a unique set of traits.
• Amniota -> Cynodontia (259 mya) -> Eutheria (145 mya) -> Palutherium (100-66 mya) -> Palusaurictis (66 mya) -> Lacertocyon (34 mya)

Edit2: further updates at https://github.com/Kaelygon/Lacertocyon-plumocrista

Clip from Stand-up Maths video https://youtu.be/pgyI8aPctaI?t=75

This was a VRChat avatar commission and to showcase it I made this render.