The Pigmy Dragon, the Chinese national treasure Yangzi crocodile is called in ancient literature.

Yangzi crocodile is a reptile, is China's endemic crocodile, living in fresh water, is also one of the world's endangered reptiles. It has a short, blunt muzzle and is a type of alligator. Because the appearance of the Yangzi crocodile is very much like the "dragon", so commonly known as "earth dragon" or "piggy dragon". China's ancient literary works, there have been many references to the Yangtze crocodile in the name of the pig's mother dragon, of which the "Liaozhai Zhiyi" is the most representative of the statement.

The pig's grandmother dragon, produced in the West River. Shaped like a dragon but short, can fly; often out along the riverbank to eat geese and ducks. When they were hunted, their meat was sold to Chen and Ke. These two surnames are the descendants of Youlang, the world to eat the pork dragon meat, other families do not dare to eat also. A guest from the right side of the river, got a head, tie up the boat. One day, moored Qianlong, tied a little slack, suddenly jumped into the river. In a few moments, the waves were big, the estimated boat dumped and sank.

Appearance

The appearance of the pigmy dragon (Yangzi crocodile) is flat and long, the body length is generally 1.5 meters, weighing 15 to 30 kilograms. It is clearly divided into head, neck, trunk, tail and limbs. The head is slightly elevated and the muzzle is low and flat, shorter than other crocodilians. The muzzle end has a pair of external nostrils that can be opened and closed. The ear holes are slit and also have valves that can be closed.

The eyes are large, black, protruding from the sides of the head, with upper and lower eyelids and thin, transparent transient membranes, which close from front to back when diving, as if wearing protective eyewear, which does not interfere with vision and protects the eyes in the water. The mouth has conical grooved teeth, 18 on each side of the upper jaw and 19 on each side of the lower jaw, which are sharp like serrated teeth.

The skin is covered with horny scales and bony plates, the ventral armor is softer, and the adjacent bony plates are connected by flexible leathery skin, the dorsal surface is dark brown with yellow spots and yellow stripes, and the ventral surface is grey with small yellow-grey spots and transverse stripes. The neck is thin, with two pairs of longitudinally ribbed scales, the carapace is slightly flattened, with 17 rows of rectangular scales on the dorsum, 6 rows across the dorsum, and 28 rows of slightly rectangular scales on the abdomen.

The limbs are short, the forelimbs are 5-fingered, with three claws on the inner side, without webbing; the hindlimbs are 4-toed, with claws on the inner three toes, and webbing between the toes. The tail is laterally flattened and long, with gray and black rings, and the two longitudinal crests gradually merge into one at the posterior end of the tail.

The above references? Baidu Encyclopedia - Porcupine Dragon