Is it possible that dinosaurs somehow led to belief in dragons?

Question

I don't know. Just a thought. Any evidence you guys know of?

Answer 1

There are still giant lizards alive today on isolated islands. It's reasonable to suppose that 10,000 years ago giant lizards were far more abundant. Also, it's a fact that giant birds were definitely more abundant, even into the 19th century, before they were killed off and became extinct. (the dodo and the emu for example)

So people of the past would have had both giant lizards and giant birds as part of their outdoor experience. Not too hard to dream up a dragon from that. They dreamed up lots of things - unicorns, griffins, etc...

Answer 2

Strangely enough, yes. I have heard of a village of rural Chinese who had found fossils of dinosaurs and sea reptiles a little ways from their village several centuries back. They assumed the fossils were the skeletons of dragons and protected the fossil site in the belief that the 'dragon' skeletons would bring them luck. Now they know that their dragons are really dinosaurs and the fossils are being exhumed by paleontologists, bringing profit and recognition to their village.

Truth is stranger than fiction . . .

Answer 3

absolutely possible, but no proof.

i saw a show on (probably ) the Discovery Channel about this.


both around Greece ( where there are so many mythological creatures) and in China, where there are the oldest dragon legends are, fossilized bones are on the surface. it is reasonable that people talked about what sort of creatures those bones came from.

The most interesting one was the analysis that mammoth or mastodon fossils could have been interpreted as giants, or as the Cyclops.

this article discusses it a little.
http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/01/03/mammoth/print.html

THIS ARTICLE HAS A LOT MORE:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0205_030205_cyclops.html

Answer 4

wow you think so! in my openiion dragons look like dinosaurs with those wings , so i think ppl in old time might had found the dinosaurs fossil and be surprised that what kind of animal was it?
so the dragons are the creatures that come from many years of dinosaur story and that make the dragons look like dinosaurs but not 100% coz of distraction from ppl and time

i also think that maybe dragon was one of dinosaurs species but we still have not found the fossil or any evidence of them yet......................who knows anything could happen

Answer 5

Absolutely. Ancient people discovered dinosaur fossils too you know. After they discovered these fossils they think they are dragons!! The chinese people mostly think dinosaur fossils found in there lands are dragons in ancient times.

Answer 6

Possible, but there is no real evidence, and I can't imagine what evidence there could be since dinosaurs were extinct before man as we know him evolved.

Answer 7

yes it is very possible i have also wondered that for many years and i have watched a lot of shows on the animal planet where they have linked these animals to the dinosaurs so this is good

Answer 8

Mosat Definately ..

In earlier times, farmers , etc. would turn up these huge bones ( That we know call fossils ) and looking at them , they could see that they were from huge animals ..

Interestingly , I was reading that Mammoth skulls were mistaken for
Cyclops skulls ; the hole in the center , where the trunk was, was mistaken for a large eye sockets ...

Answer 9

No evidence that I know of, but it's an interesting thought.

Answer 10

Nothing to connect it, as far as I could see. Perhaps something from Chinese literature coming over to Europe, where dragons are big stuff, but that's another guess.