User blog:SilverTiger12/A Review of Dracoform Taxonomy

Note: This page is a work in process and is in no way, shape, or form complete or finalized. Significant changes may be made as new information comes to light.

The dragons and their kindred species are among the most innately magical and biologically complex creatures of the Material plane, but their reclusiveness and, in the case of many species, rarity, has prevented any major taxonomic work on the group. This article seeks to rectify that by examining the internal taxonomic relations of the dragonkind. Undead dragons are not treated here, as they are by their nature not independent species at all but non-living things created from the bodies of other species. This article also relies more on environmental, magical, and otherwise biological similarities and affinities than on any supposed lines of evolutionary descent for its organization.

Systemic Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Dracoformes

Dracoformes is the class that encompasses all true dragons and a number of other, related species. Physiological characteristics apparently include warm-bloodedness (probably homeothermic), scaly skin, and oviparity, among others.

Internal Systematics
Order: Dracomorpha - the true dragons.
 * Family: Draconidae - the classical dragons
 * Subfamily: Chrominae - the chromatic dragons
 * Subfamily: Metallinae - the metallic dragons
 * Tribe: Metallini
 * Tribe: Ferrini
 * Subfamily: Geminae - the gem dragons
 * Family: Karadraconidae - the lung dragons. It must be noted the the yu lung is not a separate species, but instead the common word for the larval form of the different lung species.
 * Genus: Orienlung
 * Orienlung pan, the pan lung
 * Orienlung shen, the shen lung
 * Orienlung tien, the t'ien lung
 * Orienlung chiang, the chiang lung
 * Orienlung tunmi, the tun mi lung
 * Genus: Orienryo
 * Orienryo wang, the lung wang
 * Genus: Orientatsu
 * Orientatsu li, the li lung
 * Family: Xenodraconidae - the planar dragons
 * Family: Potendraconidae
 * Subfamily: Potendraconinae - the epic dragons
 * Genus: Potentata
 * Potentata prismata, the prismatic dragon
 * Potentata diamanta, the force dragon
 * Genus: Tempora
 * Tempora tempora, the time dragon
 * Subfamily: Arcanadracinae - the arcane dragons
 * Genus: Arcanadraco
 * Arcanadraco libro, the tome dragon
 * Genus: Maledicimus
 * Maledicimus vindicto, the hex dragon
 * Family: Phlogisdraconidae - the "spelljamming" dragons (radiant/wildspace, moon, sun, stellar)
 * Family: Dzalmidae
 * Genus: Dzalmaus
 * Dzalmaus dzalmus, the dzalmus
 * Family: Rattelyridae - the rattelyr
 * Family: Tempesdraconidae - the catastrophic dragons

Order: Pseudodracomorpha - the false dragons. Includes dragonets, wyverns, wyrms, and drakes.
 * Family: Microdraconidae - the dragonets
 * Family: Pseudodraconidae - drakes, wyrms, vishap, wyvern(?)

Order: Dracohemos - the dragonblooded (kobolds, dragonspawn, and dragonborn)
 * Family: Microdraconiformidae
 * Genus: Koboldia
 * Koboldia koboldia, the common kobold
 * Koboldia urdia, the urd
 * Genus: Abeiria
 * Abeiria strixiki, the dragonborn
 * Family: Dinodraconiformidae - dragonspawn

Order: Chelodracos - the dragon turtle
 * Family: Chelodracidae
 * Genus: Chelodraco
 * Chelodraco chelodraco, the dragon turtle
 * Chelodraco testudo, the dragon tortoise

Order: Protodraco - the linnorms