Wyrm

Wyrms are elongated, limbless dragons. They are native to the steppes region of Ilotana, as well as the rocky areas of Teivos. They are capable of delivering a painful and likely fatal bite. When threatened, they may respond by coiling their bodies and displaying the fangs. Individual Wyrms may bite when feeling threatened. They tend to be found in flat, rocky areas, hunting small animals such as birds and rodents. They are one of the few species of dragon that can neither fly nor fire a projectile.

## Biology

Wyrms are very similar to many species of snake in terms of both appearance and behavior. Despite this, they are a part of the *Draconis* genus, making them dragons. On average, Wyrms tend to have a total length of around 76 cm.

### Anatomy

Wyrms have two fangs connected to a movable maxillary, allowing them to fold backward when not in use. Within each fang is a venom canal, which is connected to venom gland by a venom-conducting tube. The venom glands contain cytomine, a type of myotoxin that causes muscle atrophy, weakness, and minor swelling, as well as potentially being fatal.

Like snakes, Wyrms molt as they grow. This allows old, worn skin to be replaced and removes any parasites that may live on the skin. Before each molt, the Wyrm stops eating and often hides or moves to a safe place. Just before shedding, the skin becomes dull and dry looking, and the Wyrm's eyes turn cloudy or blue-colored. The inner surface of the old skin liquefies, causing it to separate from the new skin beneath it. After a few days, the eyes become clear and the Wyrm "crawls" out of its old skin, which splits close to the Wyrm's mouth. The Wyrm rubs its body against rough surfaces to aid in the shedding of its old skin. In many cases, the cast skin peels backward over the Wyrm from head to tail in one piece, revealing a new, larger, brighter layer of skin which has formed underneath.

The skeleton of Wyrms consists primarily of the skull, the hyoid, the vertebral column, and the ribs. The skull consists of a solid and complete neurocranium, to which many of the other bones are only loosely attached, particularly the highly mobile jaw bones, which facilitate manipulation and ingestion of large prey items. The left and right sides of the lower jaw are joined only by a flexible ligament at the anterior tips, allowing them to separate widely, and the posterior end of the lower jaw bones articulate with a quadrate bone, allowing further mobility. The mandible and quadrate bones can pick up ground-borne vibrations; because the sides of the lower jaw can move independently of one another, a Wyrm resting its jaw on a surface has sensitive stereo auditory perception, used for detecting the position of prey. The jaw–quadrate–stapes pathway is capable of detecting vibrations on the angstrom scale, despite the absence of an outer ear and the lack of an impedance matching mechanism—provided by the ossicles in other vertebrates—for receiving vibrations from the air.

The vertebral column has approximately 350 vertebrae. The body vertebrae each have two ribs articulating with them. The tail vertebrae are comparatively few in number and lack ribs. The vertebrae have projections that allow for strong muscle attachment, enabling locomotion without limbs.

## Behavior

### Activity

Wyrms may be found active during both the night and the day. However, on very sunny days, Wyrms will tend to remain coiled or stretched out somewhere in the shade. They typically emerge at sunset to warm themselves on the warm ground before becoming more active.

### Defensive Behavior

When they feel threatened, Wyrms will pull into an S-shaped coil, and can strike as far as a third of their body length. They will also engage in a threat display that includes vibrating the tail and throwing back the head with the mouth opened. When they do this, Wyrms will often also produce a loud hissing sound.

### Hunting and Feeding

Wyrms are carnivorous, feeding on small animals such as birds and rodents. When hunting prey, Wyrms will either actively forage or will lie in ambush. When hunting, prey is struck and released, after which the Wyrm follows the scent trail left by the dying prey. Wyrms are not capable of tearing or chewing meat, so they instead swallow prey whole and digest it.

## Ecology

### Habitat

Wyrms are most commonly found in relatively flat, rocky areas, where they nest in holes or under large rocks. This includes areas such as the steppes region of Ilotana and the semi-coastal area of Teivos.

## Trivia

* Wyrms draw inspiration from snakes, primarily the cottonmouth and the eastern diamondback rattlesnake.