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Post by tina on Aug 19, 2007 21:30:05 GMT -5
Really? I could've sworn they said something about it in Dragonsdawn. I didn't think I'd read it as recently as Dragonsblood. Well, whatever. I know I remember something being mentioned about the structure differences, and the effect of it. xD Well, if it's Dragonsblood I can't reread it now; I don't have that one yet. xDD
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Post by etoile on Aug 19, 2007 21:30:19 GMT -5
Well, before Ramoth started having babies. When it was just Jora's dragon, they were in a more desperate time. It was always just one queenie at a time, so she's got to have mated with brothers at some point in time. *shrug* I dunno. Thinking these thoughts hurts my brain after a while. *not very sciencey* xD
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Post by Felina on Aug 19, 2007 21:33:32 GMT -5
Nope. They went on about the Eridani Equations without saying what those were, talked a bunch about how their general structure was based upon boron rather than calcium, but nothing about their genetic structure. The triple helix wasn't mentioned until Dragonsblood.
I dunno, I'm going to either have to see if it's referenced in the Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, or go the the effort of getting a copy of Dragonflight. Maybe both. I haven't read that in a while...
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Post by tina on Aug 19, 2007 21:35:58 GMT -5
Yeah, I think probably people just quit thinking about it after a point; it was probably just one of those things that wasn't given much, if any, consideration later on, and was forgotten after a few generations.
Edit: Ah. Okay. It's been a while since I've read Dragonsblood, that's probably why I assumed it was Dragonsdawn. xDD
What is it you wanted to find in Dragonflight? I have it just two or three feet away from me. xDDD
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Post by Shikai on Aug 19, 2007 21:39:36 GMT -5
I really don't know. Clearly pernese dragon genetics are different from genetics on earth. Just look at the colors! A queen and a bronze usually mate to produce the eggs, but very few of the eggs are gold or bronze. They produce all the dragon colors, each of which have their own size ranges and specific genders. It's very different, and I lean more toward the 'not at risk of inbreeding' side. The dragons produce genetically dissimilar children, so I don't think it'd be a problem. BUT, I haven't read all the books. xD So I can't do much other than make the obvious statement that the genetics are different for them.
Eheh...I'm guiltier than anyone, with my six candidates and not a rider to my name. TT___TT I love roleplaying my characters through their candidacy and weyrlinghood, playing out their development. I know riders still develop...but it doesn't seem like there's as much going on, for me, so I don't like it so much. I guess I could make a rider if we really need them...probably a green, blue, or brown. But for now, I can't really take on another character, so it'd have to be after the hatching.
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Post by tina on Aug 19, 2007 21:46:52 GMT -5
There's also that the main point of inbreeding is that the ones breeding are too genetically similar. Since dragons that mate with each other are plenty different, no matter how closely related, even if their genetic structure was as prone to mutations as Terran DNA, it probably still wouldn't be much of a problem.
I'm going to bring in a couple riders as soon as I get profiles put together. I was going to wait on applying for a brown rider, but since the plot screwed up my original plan for a blue rider, I might as well work on the brown rider now. xDD
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Post by M'kel on Aug 20, 2007 11:21:19 GMT -5
In Dragonflight, they were down to one very old queen. Before her, I think that there was also only one queen. Thus, any bronzes her age or younger would presumably be from the same mother, either her mother, or she herself.
Then, Ramoth Hatched from the last of the old queen's Clutches (as the old queen then went between). She began laying eggs, from which Hatched bronzes and another gold (Kylara's). Thus, the young bronzes, along with older ones who would, out of necessity, have been at least half-brothers to Ramoth, were the only ones available to fly the two golds. The next gold to be Clutched by Ramoth was Wirenth (Brekke's), so she, too, would be reliant upon 'half-brothers' and 'uncles'.
Even when there were multiple Weyrs, dragonriders rarely transferred between them, remember? That was a controversy, when F'lar suggested that young, Benden bronzeriders branch out to other Weyrs.
Thus, inbreeding doesn't seem to be a problem at all, in Anne's concept of the dragons. Even here, inbreeding problems only come from the presence of negative, recessive genes. If a family line has a tendency for a certain recessive gene to be passed on, reproduction within that family line makes it more likely for two recessive genes to meet up, thus causing harmful effects to the young. So if the dragon lines are unhampered by negative recessives, there will be little chance of defects even with inbreeding.
So don't feel obligated to make dragonrider charries; if you'd like to, go ahead, but otherwise, Araelen's population should be able to grow fine from candidates and those who leaped forward with Sitareh. Even all of those are related to Aviciath somehow...
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