It's hard to imagine a world without birds, or something similar. It's such a huge niche that you'd expect something to fill it. Of course, dragons, being flighted, could fill it, and if they're anything like the hexapodal, armor-scaled, fanged nightmares of traditional fantasy, they could fill it so well that birds might never arise. Provided that at least some of them are also herbivorous.
But the really important question, I think, is what did the dragons evolve from? Dinosaurs? If so, they could be an alternative path to birds that developed at the same time, with the two groups perpetually competing against each other, somewhat hampering the evolutionary diversity of each. Perhaps all dragons are beast and insect eaters, while birds are seed and fruit eaters. Perhaps it's dragons that prey on birds rather than hawks and falcons. Perhaps dragons circle and seek roadkill rather than vultures.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-06-21 03:46 pm (UTC)But the really important question, I think, is what did the dragons evolve from? Dinosaurs? If so, they could be an alternative path to birds that developed at the same time, with the two groups perpetually competing against each other, somewhat hampering the evolutionary diversity of each. Perhaps all dragons are beast and insect eaters, while birds are seed and fruit eaters. Perhaps it's dragons that prey on birds rather than hawks and falcons. Perhaps dragons circle and seek roadkill rather than vultures.