THE NIEDERBIEBER DRACO: AN ANATOMICAL ANALYSIS

The Niederbieber Draco

Rather than attempt to compare the Niederbieber Draco with various mythological beasts known from other places and times, I thought it would be fun to address the anatomy of the standard in the context of real known animals.  

Three features strike me as being the most important in this regard.  First, the position of the crest (if interpreted literally, i.e. if we assume the maker had modelled that particular feature after an actual animal he was acquainted with) removes from our consideration both fishes and lizards.  This is because both of those classes of animals have crests or anterior dorsal fins that begin behind the head, and behind the eyes. Yes, there are plenty of crested lizards about, and there are even some that have a similar number of spiny projections beginning at the base of the skull and running towards the tail.  

Blue-Crested Lizard

Forest Dragon

But only birds have a crest that stands on the very tops of their heads and can begin either above the eye or just in front of the eye.  Such a crest also does not continue down the neck, as is the case with the draco. So, again, if we are looking for the crest of a existing versus an imaginary animal, we would have to identify that of the draco as being avian.  The ancient Greek basilisk (mythical) or "little king" may have contributed the idea of a crest-like crown and this snake was later associated with the cockatrice, which sported a cock's comb.  

Second, while the draco has sometimes been described as being earless, it most certainly is not.  The maker has included a lizard's tympanum or external eardrum in just the right location.  We can tell the feature in question is a tympanum, as the surrounding scales are not of the same perfect tear-drop shape, and have their more pointed ends on the opposite side.  More importantly, the scales are keeled. Reptiles are often described as having either keeled or unkeeled scales.  The lack of a keel on the isolated feature at the side of the head identifies it as a tympanum.  Everything from the brow ridge, eye and chin back is definitely saurian - with the exception of the crest, of course.  Snakes do not have tympani. Lizards do.  Finally, despite its shape, the feature is too small to be the pectoral fin of a fish.  

Green Lizard in Germany Showing Tympanum

Most interesting to me (as a person who has studied the Dacian wolf-headed draco in considerable detail) is the pronounced furrowing of the muzzle and the total lack of scalation present there.  The furrowed muzzle is clearly meant to portray a snarling beast, and the one whose muzzle most perfectly accords with this image is the wolf.  

In fact, the correspondence of the draco muzzle with that of a snarling wolf is so complete that the number of furrows on the former match those found on the canine.  Thus while the Niederbieber Draco is often said to be just that - a dragon - a major element of it retains an important component of the Dacian draco, i.e. the wolf.  

I would then conclude that the Niederbieber Draco is a composite (tripartite) beast, part lizard, part bird and part wolf. That is, if we ascribe to its maker a rudimentary knowledge of natural history!