They are described as having forked tail ends with a defecation opening between the forks however, most artistic renderings depict their tails as having spade-shaped tips. Unlike the dragons of Terran legend, they have a smooth hide rather than scales the texture of their skin is described as being reminiscent of suede with a spicy, sweet scent when clean. They have multifaceted eyes that change color depending on the dragon's mood. On their heads they have small headknobs, similar to those of giraffes, and no visible ears. Their head and general body type is described by McCaffrey as being similar in shape to those of horses. Their blood, referred to as ichor, is copper-based and green in color. Like all of Pern's native large fauna, they have six limbs – four feet and two wings. These Long Intervals have led the inhabitants of Pern to believe that Thread will never return.ĭragons are described as carnivorous, oviparous, warm-blooded creatures. In the novels, "Long Intervals", of about four hundred and fifty Turns, have occurred twice. Periods between Passes, when the Red Star's orbit takes it away from Pern, are referred to as "Intervals" usually lasting about two hundred Turns. On Pern, time is measured in "Turns", or years, and "Passes", which are about fifty Turns long, and occur when a planet named the "Red Star" is close enough to Pern for Thread to traverse space between the Red Star and Pern. The later novels, set during the Third Pass, have shown the watch-whers are more useful than commonly thought in the novels set in the First Pass. Later genetic manipulation by Ping's granddaughter, Wind Blossom, also resulted in the watch-whers, ungainly, nocturnal creatures who bore a slight resemblance to dragons. The dragons were named after their resemblance to European dragons from the legends of old Earth. Geneticist Kitti Ping Yung designed the dragons by manipulating the genetic code of the indigenous fire-lizards that had been acquired as pets by the colonists. In Dragonsdawn, the race was intentionally engineered to fight Thread, a deadly mycorrhizoid spore that devours all organic matter that it touches, after it first caught the human colonists on Pern unawares, with devastating results.
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