The Best Dragon (According To Science)

We ranked dragons based on how biologically and evolutionarily plausible they are.

Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members.

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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: 

Tetrapods: four-limbed (with a few exceptions, such as snakes which have vestigial limbs) animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda.

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If you liked this week’s video, you might also like: 

What Happened to Smaug's Other Legs? 'Hobbit' FX Expert Explains http://www.mtv.com/news/1719502/smaug-hobbit-fx-explained/
How to fly your dragon, Journal of Physics Special topics https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/pst/article/view/870/802

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Credits (and Twitter handles):

Script Writer, Editor and Video Narrator: Julián Gustavo Gómez (@ittakesii)

Video Illustrators: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar) and Arcadi Garcia (@garirius)

Video Director: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar)

With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Kate Yoshida, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg, Julián Gómez, Sarah Berman, Arcadi Garcia Rius 

Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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References:

Tennekes, H. (2009). The simple science of flight: from insects to jumbo jets. MIT press.

Azuma, A., Azuma, S., Watanabe, I., & Furuta, T. (1985). Flight mechanics of a dragonfly. Journal of experimental biology, 116(1), 79-107.

Habib, M. (2013). Constraining the air giants: limits on size in flying animals as an example of constraint-based biomechanical theories of form. Biological Theory, 8(3), 245-252.