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Dragons are carnivorous, oviparous, warm-blooded creatures. Like all of Pern's native large fauna, they have six limbs - four feet and two wings. Their blood is copper-based and green in color. They have multifaceted eyes that change color depending on the dragon's mood. Unlike the dragons of Terran legend, they have smooth, soft skin rather than scales; the texture of their skin is described as being reminiscent of suede with a spicy, sweet scent when clean. They are described as having forked tail ends with a defecation opening between the forks; however, most artistic renderings depict their tails as having spade-shaped tips. Their wings are not large enough to support their bodies in flight, much of their ability to fly depends on the subconscious use of telekinesis.

It's three months from mating to hatching.  The eggs are laid six weeks after mating.  Newly hatched dragons are the size of very large ponies, and reach their full size after eighteen months. Because young dragons grow so fast, their riders must regularly apply oil to their hides to prevent the skin from cracking or drying out.

Like their firelizard and firedragonet ancestors, dragons can breathe fire by chewing a phosphine-bearing rock called "firestone," which reacts with an acid in a special stomach-like organ. This forms a volatile gas that can be exhaled at will and ignites upon contact with air. The flame is used to burn Thread from the sky before it reaches the ground.

Despite their relatively low intelligence, fire-lizards communicate through a form of weak telepathy. They also imprint on the first individual who feeds them after they hatch, creating a telepathic bond with them; the Pernese call this phenomenon "Impression". In creating dragons, Kitti Ping intensified the creatures' telepathy and gave them a strong instinctive drive to Impress to a human. Upon hatching, each dragonet chooses one of the humans present and Impresses to that person; from that moment on, the pair are in a constant state of telepathic contact for as long as they both live. Dragons also use telepathy to communicate with each other and with fire-lizards. They are capable of speaking telepathically to humans besides their own riders, but most are disinclined to do so except under unusual circumstances.

Dragons and fire-lizards can also teleport. They do this by briefly entering a hyperspace dimension known as between. Humans experience between as an extremely cold, airless, black void. After spending no more than eight seconds in between, the dragon or fire-lizard can re-emerge anywhere on Pern, along with any passengers or cargo they carried. This ability evolved in fire-lizards as a defense against Thread; not only does it allow them to quickly escape from Threadfall, but the intense cold of between kills any Thread that has already burrowed into them. If a dragon attempts to teleport without a clear mental image of the place where they intend to reappear, they can simply fail to emerge from between and die.

Going between allows dragons to travel through time as well as space, as long as they have a clear picture of what a particular place looked like (or will look like) at the desired time. However, the practice is highly dangerous to both dragon and rider and is severely restricted. Existing in two places at once for extended periods of time, or in close proximity, causes severe weakness and psychological disturbance for humans. In addition, while teleporting through space always takes the same amount of time, when a dragon travels through time, the amount of time they spend in between increases depending on how long ago or how far in the future the destination is. Thus, traveling to remote times poses severe dangers from hypothermia and deprivation.

Contrary to popular concept, dragons do NOT defecate while between.  If they did, it would eventually cause serious ecological problems for the planet, as large amounts of Pern's organic matter would be regularly disappearing into an alternate dimension. (It should be noted that The Skies of Pern references the use of dragon dung as a repellent against the large felines inhabiting the southern continent.)

Dragons are also capable of telekinesis, though this ability is unknown and used in an unconscious manner (to augment flight). It is speculated that the undersized wings were intentionally created in the dragons by Kitti Ping to reduce the surface area of a dragon that is exposed to possible Thread injury, and that the telekinisis was intended to make up for the loss of wingsail. It is said in many books that a dragon can carry whatever it thinks it can carry. This is likely an extension of the telekinesis, mentally "lifting" the extra load. This is the most likely explanation as to the great loads that dragons sometimes carry during emergencies.

Unlike their fire-lizard ancestors, dragons are fully sapient. They communicate fluently in human language (although only telepathically), and have personalities and opinions distinct from those of their riders. However, their intelligence does seem to be somewhat lower than that of the average human. In particular, their long-term memory is severely limited.

As a safeguard against the possible damage that could be caused by such powerful creatures, Ping engineered dragons to be profoundly psychologically dependent on their riders. Any dragonet that fails to Impress to a human shortly after hatching will die. If a dragon's rider dies, the dragon immediately suicides by going between without a destination. The only exception in the books is a queen dragon whose rider dies while the queen is gravid; the dragon waits just long enough to lay her eggs and see them hatch before disappearing between. (Humans who lose their dragons typically commit suicide as well. However, some do survive, although the experience leaves profound psychological trauma.)

Ping also designed the dragons to be fairly calm in temperament. They never fight one another, unless two queens come into estrus at the same time. They are also not dangerous to humans except shortly after hatching, when it is common for confused and frightened dragon hatchlings to maul or even kill humans hoping to Impress.

Dragons hatch knowing their own names, and announce their names to their new riders upon Impression. Their names always end in -th.

Other Communications

Dragons communicate "aloud" as well as telepathically with their riders.  These methods include vocalizations, posturing, and eye color.

A dragon may make whatever sound it feels like making, whether it's a roar, bugle, rumble, chirr, trumpet, or warble, and for whatever reason.  Note that dragons, being larger, aren't as likely as firelizards to make sounds like higher-pitched chirps, trills, or screeches. One of the high-pitched sounds that's common among both dragons and firelizards is a creel, often plaintive, and although dragons' creels are somewhat lower-pitched, they're still just as piercing.  Generally speaking, the only sounds made during a flight are bugles (the female may bugle to announce her readiness and males may bugle back in answer) and croons.

There are only two sounds made by dragons and firelizards that have distinct meanings. When all dragons or firelizards hum, it means that eggs of their own kind are hatching. Dragons don't generally hum for firelizard eggs, but sometimes firelizards may choose to hum for dragon eggs as the higher life forms. When a dragon dies, all other dragons keen, an eery, unbroken wailing. It is their way of expressing grief and showing honor.  Occasionally, dragons may keen for another creature's death if that creature has somehow impressed the dragons through deeds or honorableness.

Dragons can communicate through posturing in much the same way as canines do, with eyes replacing the expressive ears of the dogs.  Head tilted back, lips withdrawn, and stiffness of posture often means aggression or anger.  The tail may lash and wings may mantle as well.  When surprised or startled, a dragon may sit back on its haunches and raise its head up in the air, ostensibly to get a better look at whatever surprised or startled it.  Affection or flirtation may be portrayed by a delicate arching of the neck and light ruffling of wings, and some preening.  Curiosity is often shown by pressing close to whatever the dragon is curious about; this can be intimidating for families of newly-hatched dragons when they first encounter the hatchling after the intial eat-sleep routine.  There are many other attitudes that can be portrayed by posturing: begging, remorse, guilt, mischief, slyness, and more.

Eye color and rotating speed are extremely important to understanding a dragon.  The facets appear to "rotate," essentially each facet sparkles a certain amount, but due to the spherical nature of the orbs, the sparkling appears to be circular in motion, giving the eyes the appearance of "whirling."  The speed with which the eye color whirls usually denotes the intensity of the emotion behind the color; slower means less intense and is most frequent when the dragon is drowsing, while faster means more intense.  The general meaning of any particular color is relatively fixed, but the specifics will usually only be known by the dragon's rider:

• Blues/Greens
  These are the hardest colors to read, but they generally reflect happiness, contentment, and tranquility
• Reds
  This is usually one of the easiest colors to understand, reflecting anger or annoyance and, most frequently, extreme hunger
• Yellows
  This is another difficult color to analyze, but usually denotes alarm or worry
• Orange
  This color means only one thing: flightlust; this color only occurs in a rising female and chasing males within affected range
• Gray
  This is a VERY specific color that means only one thing: pain; this is usually representative of physical pain, but in combination with yellows may indicate emotional pain or that the rider is suffering some sort of pain