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And you thought I was finally done with centaur questions.

I have a centaur race called the Draconitaurs. They're essentially centaurs, but with western dragons instead of horses.

The dragon tropes I'm using include: large, scaly, lizard-like, large wings, and stereotyped as greedy. They do not lay eggs and they are no more malicious than anybody else. They do not breathe fire.

How can I combine the draconic traits, the human traits, and the centaur traits in a believable way? I'm looking for something that could have happened without the use of magic, and I'll be rating based on probability. Bonus points if you figure out I can interpret the skin/scales thing.

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    $\begingroup$ For fun: D&D's dracotaur $\endgroup$
    – Frostfyre
    Oct 2 '18 at 19:48
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    $\begingroup$ "I'm looking for something that could have happened without the use of magic." The less magic involved in that, the more alcohol involved in that. $\endgroup$
    – The Square-Cube Law
    Oct 2 '18 at 19:50
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    $\begingroup$ @Renan that's typically how it goes lol $\endgroup$
    – AzaleaGarden
    Oct 2 '18 at 19:51
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    $\begingroup$ Just one thing I would like with your series of questions: You could link all previous questions of that kind in your new questions in an addendum. If somebody takes your questions (and the resulting answers) as reference, they might also be interested in your other related questions. But that is just a style thing and by no means a necessity. Maybe some people would even dislike the idea, i don't know. $\endgroup$
    – ArtificialSoul
    Oct 4 '18 at 8:12
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You will need to start loooong time ago

Any centaur-like living organism has six limbs. And humans have four. If you want to start from a common ancestor, you need to go back in time even before them. Tetrapods (four limbs organisms) evolved from early bony fishes (Osteichthyes), specifically from the tetrapodomorph branch of lobe-finned fishes (Sarcopterygii), living in the early to middle Devonian period.
enter image description here

The organisms with six limbs evolved from a different and older ancestor (presumably a crustacean). But since Centaurs are really mammals (horses + humans) they cannot fit in that category. Therefore, if you really want to have all of them have something in common, you need to design a different evolution path.

You will need a common six-legged mammal ancestor that evolved from a different type of acuatic prehistoric animal in your world. And then it common ancestor will eventually mutate in different paths according to the environment it evolved in.

However if your Draconic centaurs have wings beside their hands, it will make them 8 limb creatures. So you need an 8 limb common ancestor, and then make it lose a pair of limbs in further evolution stages (the same way dolphins and whales loose their legs). In that way, you can justify the existance of a single common origin for all of them.

Besides you will need the Draconic creatures to be mammals. And then justify the lizard-like appearence (they will end up being something like a pangolins or an armadillos).

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Given the parameters and leaving out magic, you have few options.

Supernatural, cabbalistic and the ilk, and aliens of course.

Or an experiment in gene mixing that somehow produced such a creature which could reproduce.

The most likely reason for such an apparition would be hallucinogenic drug use.

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There has been plenty of humanization of dragons and maybe working those into a human society.

I picture a society seperated into small clans. Being mindful of others could be a universal trait in dragon culture. Maybe there could be an emphasis on the material possesions of a dracotaur as a show of some kind of prowess. Maybe skins or accessories.

I could see dracotaurs from other clans dueling for their treasures and maybe clan versus clan battles in times where food is in short supply.

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The draconic centaurs could be non mammalian synapsids equivalents descendants from "polypod" (nomenclature used for creatures with three or more pairs of legs).

Their first acuatic ancestor appeared at the medium Silurian moment in which ostracoderms gave way to the first paired fins fishes, in this moment more than four fins appeared.

Now first option for hexapods, a non mammalian synapsid have the correct balance between reptiles and mammals, with the reptilian head an mammalian body you can get the centaur, then if the leathery skin is not enough for you, also they can develop pangolin like scales. For the correct position the limbs should be paired at three girdles. For the wings I thought and evolutive ancestor which passed through an evolutive step like a draco lizard which could have adapted its ribs to plane, then were preserverd as ornaments for sexual selection but became unfunctional when they grew to "horse" size.

Other easiest option is that they evoled from octopods, now the wings are just adapted arms, but honestly I don't which is the correct position for the wings for permit fly with that se heavy an long body, so keep them as sexual ornament is the way.

This question has been around for a while but maybe someone else thinks about something similar.

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This could be some sort of snake-like creature, but with legs. It would stand on its hindlegs, with a long tail for balance, and the front of the body curved up into a humanoid pose. The wings would be derived from the ribs, like in winged lizards

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