1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,399 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on on mythical creatures, 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:27,160 Speaker 1: ideas and monsters in time. From green dragons to golden dragons, 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: from solar dragons to lunar dragons. The world of Dungeons 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: and Dragons has well a lot of dragons. One variety 8 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: that hasn't officially seen the light of day since second 9 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: edition is the salt dragon of the Forgotten Realms setting. 10 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: These pale, yellow and white dragons were said to inhabit 11 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: salt encrusted lands, and their breath weapon was fittingly salt 12 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: themed as well. They expelled a cone of salt crystals 13 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: that could blind and wound enemies both above and beneath 14 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: the water. While there are no true salt dragons in 15 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: the natural world, we do have the Galapagos marine iguana, 16 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,559 Speaker 1: an endemic algae eating iguana species that adapted to thrive 17 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: on the isolated islands of the Galapacos. These are marvelous 18 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: creatures to watch, sometimes comical and amusing, as they bask 19 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: on shore side rocks and landings, but utterly graceful in 20 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: the water. While the shore, they frequently appear to sneeze. 21 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: This is actually a means of clearing excess salt from 22 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: their bodies via special glands at the nostrils. The resulting 23 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: salt crystals sometimes encrust the thorny heads of the lounging creatures, 24 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: giving them an even saltier appearance. Those horny protrusions on 25 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: the head, by the way, helps scrape algae away from 26 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: the rocks during feeding. So for the marine iguana, salt 27 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: sneezes are a means of removing excess levels of salt 28 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: from the body, not a means of defense. Though even 29 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: Charles Darwin in his book The Voyage of the Beagle 30 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: described the act as follows quote. They do not seem 31 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: to have any notion of biting, but when much frightened, 32 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: they score to drop a fluid from each nostril. First 33 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: impressions surely, as the basking iguanas seemed to regularly admit 34 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: salt regardless of perceived fright Still, this curious feature allows 35 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: us an avenue by which to imagine the physiology of 36 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,839 Speaker 1: a fantastic salt dragon. Instead of expelling all of its 37 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: excess salt. Perhaps the giant fantastic creature is able to 38 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: safely store the crystals or concentrated sailing solution inside its 39 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: body for later use as a defensive or offensive breath weapon. 40 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. 41 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 42 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: to bill your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your 43 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more 44 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 45 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.