Dragons (Eudraco Rex) are very old, large, and powerful Squamates that were the apexes of their European regions, once upon a time, but are still worthy of respect, even more so within these times.

Origin/evolutionary history: From what little we've discovered on these creatures, they first appeared to have diverged from other Squamates within the Jurassic period, but were nigh-unrecognizable to the mighty beasts they later become, as they've remained small opportunistic scavengers and hunters of insects and small mammals, up until later in the Eocene, where they really started to get very diverse and large. Eudraco Rex, the most common and dominant species in Europe, evolved to be quite an efficient predator, being able to prey on birds, wyverns, and rarely even other dragons should they be weak and/or small enough, along with more terrestrial prey items like deer, boars, wolves, etc. And have remained as the apex predator until much later when humans and werecreatures arrived and colonized Europe.

Physiology/biology: Eudraco Rexes are approximately 7-8 ft long, 5 ft tall Squamates with a wingspan of 20 ft. They're generally green in coloration, with a darker green around the neck and face, except for the females which are generally brown. While their tails are long they're quite stiff, which is predictable as a long and flexible tail would hinder such a large flying animal. They're mostly quadrupeds until they go for a running start on their hind legs before taking flight. The crown of six simple backward-facing horns on their heads that are common in all dragons are impractical for offense or protecting most of the neck, thankfully it's been confirmed over 200 years ago by an alchemist named [REDACTED] that the horns are not just used for display, but also to protect the pair of venom glands. Contrary to human myths, Dragons don't actually produce fire (but Weredragons and Chimeras naturally do), but spit potent venom instead, which causes a strong burning pain, along with nasty burn marks, akin to the burning pain and damage of fire. The range at which they can spit their venom is approximately 11-17 ft, and not only is the venom they produce a form of very strong and potent zytotoxine, but it's quite flammable as well. Even without the use of their venom, they're still very formidable predators, able to rip into prey and enemies with their claws and blade-like teeth with fair ease, and thus make an easy kill with a lone human that's either got nothing but the cloths making up their clothing or poorly armed like having average leather armor and a knife. Dragons are also quite agile for reptiles and of their size, so they're very efficient at evading attacks. Dragon mating season is in the late spring or early summer, and make nests within caves with shiny objects like various metals or human treasure piled around and collected, as well as some skeletal remains of previous kills made. The nests themselves are 6 ft around, made from the usual sticks and foliage that bird nests are made from, but obviously to a much bigger extent, and can contain 15-23 eggs laid by the mother. Female dragons are around the same size as the males but do have slightly shorter horns. Like all reptiles, including squamates, dragons have a cloaca, and the males are equipped with a hemipenis, which has four rows of backward-facing barbs near the tips.

Behavior: Dragons are very territorial, having a range of 3 miles, and they'll fiercely protect it, even to the death should they be fighting an intruder that's closer to their homes, as they'd be cornered. They're also very intelligent creatures, with an intellect on par with ravens and crows, as they're able to easily recognize patterns and faces, and in over a dozen cases, utilize their venom's flammability via ignition, usually by quickly raking their claws on a hard surface like stone or metal. Dragons are also well-known for being attracted to shiny objects, even outside of the mating season, which eventually led them to steal some treasure from people, and thus causing more conflict on top of them needing to prey on easy prey like sheep, goats, pigs, and other livestock. Their behavior during mating season's not well-known, but what is known is that the males will collect shiny objects to try and impress females, and several mating pair have been observed to fly around 60-80 ft in the air and then divebomb together with their talons locked together before quickly parting ways as they get much closer to the ground, and once they've found a mate they'll stay with them for life.

Weaknesses/termination methods: The usual method used in medieval times to hunt and slay Dragons has been on horseback with either a lance, spear, longsword, or claymore. Given such distances these weapons give along with the aid of fast and large steeds like horses, grounded dragons were quite at a physical disadvantage to such a technique, even with their agility, and especially if they're confronted near or at their cavern homes. And as the production of weapons becoming more prevalent and efficient along with the increasing numbers of humans and werecreatures, and not even their heightened healing could save them, although, despite this, their durability's enough to make sure they won't die instantly from most fatal blows, giving them a chance at dealing at least one or two last attacks. Arrows and most projectile weaponry can be even more efficient, but given the space the dragon would have, it'll usually evade them easily. While the slaying of dragons in the 18th-21st century is very illegal, (even in self-defense against a dragon will result in grave punishment) semi-automatic firearms and explosives are most efficient as they can't evade a wave of bullets and if they do get hit by any explosives, it's mostly a nigh-instant death, so one hit is all it takes.

Containment/handling procedures: You CAN'T, containment is IMPOSSIBLE. Dragons are too aggressive, powerful, and agile for containment, and even if containment was achieved, dragons don't do well in captivity. The best method of "containment" is having them in private nature reserves or just leave them out in the wild, and observe them safely while working more so on keeping the public eyes away, and luckily dragons are intelligent enough to now know to keep away from humans, and with sufficient supplies of both natural and fed prey items, the dragons are happy and no longer have a need for raiding farmlands anymore. While dragons can't be domesticated nor tamed, they can be trained, this can only happen if bounded with a person when they imprint on them as hatchlings, but they know their non-draconic parent(s) aren't dragons, and thus will still be dangerous and lash out if the person's not careful when they get bigger. The best thing to do with raising a dragon other than providing the usual food, water, shelter, and TLC, is to give them space and free range to explore, no binding/restrictive things like collars and/or chains, and do NOT get in their way when they're feeding, they'll become quite protective and will lash out at anything trying to steal their meal. Art is by https://www.deviantart.com/sheather888