| “ | They think we live on men and breathe fire! But all we ever really eat is bananas. And when anyone tries to come here we go down to a hollow in the middle of the island and suck up the mist, the fog, that always hangs around there. Then we come back to the beach and roar and rampage. And we breathe the fog out through our nostrils and they think it's smoke. That's the way we've kept this island to ourselves for a thousand years. And this is the only part of the world where we are left—where we can live in peace. |
” |
— A Piffilosaurus, Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (1923).
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| Piffilosaurus | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Others | "Dragon" of No-Man's-Land | ||
| Morphology | |||
| Body type | Mammalian | ||
| Intelligence | |||
| Sentience | Sentient | ||
| Sapience | Sapient | ||
| Aggressivity | Harmless | ||
| Ecology | |||
| Place of origin | No-Man's-Land, Africa | ||
| Diet | Herbivorous (bananas) | ||
| Locomotion | Quadrupedal | ||
| Related species | Quiffenodochus | ||
| Behind the Scenes | |||
| Universe | Doctor Dolittle | ||
| Created by | Hugh Lofting | ||
| Designed by | Hugh Lofting | ||
The Piffilosaurus is a species of large animals which inhabit the island known as No-Man's-Land, off the coast of the African nation of Fantippo. Despite being pictured as terrifying dragons in Fantippan folklore; in reality, they are harmless herbivores, and live in harmony with other species, as the island has no natural predators.
Biology[]
Members of this species look similar to a mammalian sauropod, all covered in fur, with an extremely long neck and tail. Their legs are short, however, and seem to spread out like a crocodile's legs. They have stubby horns on their heads, similar to a giraffe's ossicones; and six toes on their hind feet.
This species was discovered in the 1830s by gifted naturalist Dr. John Dolittle, who initially mistook them for live specimens of the extinct genus Quiffenodochus; before learning of their true nature. According to the Piffilosauruses themselves, the Quiffenodochus has been extinct for two thousand years, and the difference between the two species was that the Quiffenodochus had only five toes on their hind feet; whereas the Piffilosauruses have six.
Although naturally terrestrial, the Piffilosauruses are skilled swimmers; as demonstrated when one of them saved Dr. Dolittle and Jip when they were trying to swim against the currents; and brought them safely to the shore.
The natives of Fantippo are scared of these animals, referring to them as "dragons", and believe that they eat men and breathe fire. In reality, Piffilosauruses are docile herbivores who feed exclusively on bananas. To prevent men from settling on their habitat, however, the Piffilosauruses have perpetuated those myths by gulping down the natural fog of the island's central hollow-in, and breathing it out from their nostrils, in a way that it might be mistaken for smoke.
Appearances[]
- Doctor Dolittle's Post Office by Hugh Lofting (1923)