Because their bodies are stiffened for high speed flight, they can't turn their heads very much, so skill in dogfighting is key for dragons to protect their territories.
Large dragons can fly at supersonic speeds, which gives them maneuvering advantages in their aerial fights over oil-rich territory. They've got large, stiff bodies covered in smooth scales to reduce their drag, and can launch flaming globs of tar at one another mid flight. Naturally occurring oil, of course, is rare, and as a result, dragons have become incredibly territorial. These engines resemble a pulse-jet engine, and are primarily comprised of carbon fibers and thermally resistant graphites which the dragons synthesize from their food. They both extract calories from it, and produce refined fuel which they burn in their engines. If dragons consume oil from naturally occurring sources, they could directly burn this in an internal jet engine in order to achieve supersonic flight.ĭragons are large creatures that eat oil. If dragons fly at supersonic speeds, they'll need to consume something more energetically dense. It takes a lot of energy for an aircraft to reach supersonic speeds, probably more than an animal could obtain eating other animals. Dragons have projectile weapons, so if dragons mostly fight against other dragons, supersonic flight could give them a key edge in dogfighting, especially since the dragon they were closing in on wouldn't be able to hear them coming.ĭragons would need to consume incredibly high caloric density food in order to evolve to be supersonic. That's not to say that it couldn't be useful, though. In nature, nothing else flies supersonic, and supersonic flight won't be worth its calories if its used to catch cattle or ponies or other such animals. Similar non-supersonic dragons would outcompete the supersonic ones, since they would require far less food. If supersonic flight doesn't get more food, or more mates, dragons won't evolve it. In order for one to evolve these traits, we need to answer the following question: why do supersonic dragons produce more offspring than non-supersonic dragons? Dragons would need to have a reason to be supersonic in order to evolve to do so.īeing able to fly at supersonic speeds will have incredibly high metabolic and structural costs for the dragon.
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