According to science, the dragons of "Game of Thrones" could not fly in the real world

Several experts have wondered if these fantastic creatures could move or how they would be their eyes and their teeth to explain knowledge of biology and biophysics.

In recent years, few fictional sagas have been as successful as "Game of Thrones", and few appearances have had as much impact there as the majestic dragons accompanying Daenerys Targaryen.

Motivated by this, some scientists have come up with the seemingly idiotic question of what these dragons would look like in the real world.

 
Too heavy to fly 

The first and probably most important limit dragons have is their mass. As Michael Bruce Habib, an expert in biomechanics and paleontology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USA), explained in MentalFloss.com, "Game of Thrones" dragons could not fly because they are too heavy. "They are probably beyond the limit imposed by any anatomy, unless they are made of carbon fiber and titanium," he said.

As a paleontologist, this scientist has studied the anatomy, movement and physiology of creatures he has never seen, because they are already extinct, and he has also collaborated with several productions in the design of fantastic beings with a plausible aspect.

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Among everything he has studied are the largest creatures that have ever flown on the face of the Earth: the pterosaurs. These extinct reptiles came to reach a wingspan of almost 11 meters and weigh about 250 kilograms. And, according to Habib, they are close to the size limit that flying animals can reach on Earth.   

Assuming that the fantastic world of Poniente enjoys natural laws similar to those of our Universe and Earth-like conditions (with the same gravity, atmospheric pressure, average temperatures, etc.), the huge dragons of "Game of Thrones", with a size comparable to that of a commercial aircraft and weighing at least several tons, would be beyond the mass limits imposed on the flight 

Wingspan of two of the largest pterosaurs.  Habib explained that the wings of the dragons are large enough to maintain the flight, but would not allow them to lift it, "unless they used a catapult to take off ... or magic." 

 
The limit of the wingspan 

 
In any case, Kevin McGowan, an ornithologist at Cornell University, (United States), has indicated that there is also a limit of size. It gives as an example the giant albatross, a large bird that weighs only 11 kilograms and has wings of three meters of wingspan. According to McGowan, for flying creatures to gain weight involves increasing exponentially the wingspan. 

"What wings would a 900-kilogram dragon need?" The ornithologist wondered. (This mass is estimated by Theconversation.com, an aeronautical engineer during the sixth season of the "Game of Thrones" series, in which the dragons were smaller, now seem to weigh at least several tons). 

Starting a flight is a problem that the actual flying creatures face in a variety of ways. The birds jump with their two legs or use the force of their wings to undertake the flight, either from the site or after a run-off 

In order for "Game of Thrones" dragons to fly, their bones should be strong enough to withstand the enormous tensions and forces involved in moving a multi-ton creature through the air. But, at the same time, the skeleton could not be too heavy.

Albatrosses move very efficiently in the air and using dynamic gliding cover great distances with little effort.    Engineers solve this problem with tough but very light materials, such as aluminum alloys or fiberglass. In the case of dragons, the solution would be to have hollow bones of a very large diameter. 

This is a resource that appears in nature and allows maximizing resistance at the expense of light weight, since a solid bone and a hollow with the same diameter have a comparable strength. Of course, the strength of the materials (bone), and the maximum diameter they can reach without limbs becoming useless, also put a limit on the size that dragons might have. 

The problem for some real dragons would not be to keep the flight, but to take off.  Nevertheless, aerodynamic experts believe that the design of dragons of "Game of Thrones" is one of the most plausible. The reason is that these creatures are robust and let you intuit the powerful and large muscles that would be needed for them to fly. 

The dragon's eye

In the animal world, the animals that have the best view are those who have to fly or those who live in a complicated environment where it is essential to calculate distances, as with primates living in arboreal environments. 

Dragons of "Game of Thrones" do not have eyes of bird or of primates. Their pupils are vertical, like those of felines or reptiles. As Martin Banks, an expert on vision at the University of California, Berkeley (United States) explained at Insidescience.org, these eyes are optimal for perceiving depth at short distances, which is very interesting when attempting to ambush and hunt A prey and it is necessary that the movements are precise and fast.

In exchange for these features, elongated pupils imply that distant images are blurred. That's why, since dragons are flying creatures, in Banks's opinion they should have round pupils. In fact, almost all birds and tall animals have rounded pupils.