Firelizards are based on Anne McCaffrey's firelizards from her Dragonriders of Pern Series Firelizards are miniature dragons about the size of a human forearm. It is from their genetic stock that the Kitti Ping Yung engineered Pern's larger Dragons to combat 'thread'. Though unlike the common mythical dragons of Earth, firelizards did not have scales, but a leathery hide. It is from the color of this hide that the subspecies are known.