Dragons are among the most popular and enduring mythological creatures. They appear in cultures all over the world and populate modern books, movies and TV shows as terrifying foes for brave heroes to slay. But did dragons used to exist? This article looks at the evidence for and against that claim.
As western pioneers colonized tribal lands, reports of dragons continued to come back to Europe. In the 16th century, a fossil that was taken for a dragon bone led to the Lindwurm legend. But other fossils have been misinterpreted as dragon bones as well, including those of wooly mammoths. This sort of confusion may help explain why dragons are so often mistaken for dinosaurs in early descriptions.
Other evidence supports the notion that dragons evolved out of real-world animals. Pliny the Elder, for example, claimed that dragons could strangle elephants with their tails. He probably was basing this on the fact that pythons can crush large animals, though a python’s teeth are unlikely to have the sharp, threatening points of a dragon.
Some scholars suggest that dragons were originally totemic symbols used by prehistoric clans. They then became symbols of power and maleness as tribal societies shifted toward class-based structures. The Chinese dragon, for instance, represents yang and remains one of the deified forces of nature in Daoism. It is also capable of breathing fire. The authors of a book called Discovering the Long, however, argue that this ability is based on an old misinterpretation of Chinese dragon literature. The dragon section of the Schlangenbuch, an encyclopedia by Swiss physician and naturalist Conrad Gessner published in 1584, describes a creature with “feet like lizards and wings after the fashion of bats.”
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