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In 2004, three amateur paleontologists discovered an ancient skull in South Dakota. No one was able to immediately identify which animal it belonged to, so the find was simply transferred to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, where it gathered dust for two years. Despite all attempts, this creature has never been able to be attributed with complete certainty to any known animal species. Children visiting the museum nicknamed it Dracorex Hawkworthia because it closely resembles the creature from Harry Potter.
Scientists are still debating which species to classify this animal due to the strange growths on its skull, but they agree that it is a baby. Under these conditions, based on the size of the skull, it must have been as much as 3 m long. Just imagine how big an adult could have grown. Moreover, in 2017, a complete skeleton of a similar creature was found in China, and its feather was discovered in Alaska. But the most incredible thing is that these creatures were probably seen by our distant ancestors. They were even engraved on ancient
petroglyphs in Canada and America. But what kind of animals are these? And could they really exist? There were six videos on my channel about animals that went extinct, but you're definitely not ready for this. A petroglyph made by the indigenous Ansazi tribe has been preserved in Canada Over 2,000 years ago, it depicts a creature resembling a huge foot-and-mouth disease. A similar image, but with a flying lizard, was also found in San Rafael, Utah. It was left on the rock by one of the indigenous tribes about 4,000 years ago. If you look closely, the creature on the Petroglyph, with its elongated snout, large webbed wings, and ignominious paws, resembles some unknown species of dinosaur.
But there are other finds that indicate that people repeatedly encountered similar animals in ancient times. For example, the Iyka stones. In 1966, Dr. Javier Cabrera Darkea received a gift from a friend: an ancient stone with an image of an extinct species of fish carved on it. Since Cabrera was very interested in prehistoric finds, he began to search for and purchase such stones. As a result, he managed to amass a collection of over 15,000 specimens. Among other things, these stones depict creatures that resemble dinosaurs. Moreover, on one of the stones, a man sits atop such an animal. But this is absolutely impossible, because humans appeared after the dinosaurs became extinct.
So, these had to be some other creatures that resembled giant lizards. The authenticity of these stones has been repeatedly questioned. But collector Santiago Agurto Calvo claimed that he personally found such artifacts during excavations in the vicinity of the city of Ica. According to him, he discovered two specimens in burials from Spanish cultures. In addition, stories about lizard-like creatures that terrified our ancestors constantly appear in the folklore of a wide variety of peoples. Huge lizards with large teeth, tailed and even winged, are found in mythology literally at every turn. They are even in the Bible. It describes that on the fifth day of creation, God created huge sea
animals and flying creatures. The word for these animals is translated from ancient Hebrew as dragon. And if we believe the Bible, we were neighbors with them. They may even have survived the flood. Noah's Ark. But the Bible doesn't stop mentioning dragons. Gilgamesh, the hero of the ancient Babylonian epic, killed the huge dragon Humbaba, who guarded the passage to the cedar forest. Beowulf, in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, tore off the paw of the dragon Grendel to obtain its claw. Even the travels of Marco Polo, the famous explorer, describe long snakes with short, shameful legs. But the greatest number of mentions of
dragons have survived in Chinese culture. There, parts of the bodies of these creatures were used as medicine and even eaten. Myths about dragons have also survived in European culture. There, their image can often be found on coats of arms. But one thing, legends and ancient images are completely different. Real evidence that you can touch. If there were no other evidence of dragons besides myths, I would n't be telling you all this. Residents of the Chinese village of Jans Zyako came across something strange in the field in 2017. a skeleton of an unknown animal of unclear origin. In total, it reached 18 m in length and consisted of many segments. It had two disproportionately small
front legs and a skull that resembled a cow's. A few superstitious villagers were convinced that these were the remains of a real dragon. They were afraid to even touch them for fear of desecrating them. But others took pictures riding it without any fear Representatives of the Chances authorities, who did not comment on the find, did not send the skeleton for examination either. In the end, they agreed that it was a prop for the film. However, no one knows for whom exactly, and the further fate of this skeleton is unknown.
He just disappeared. One could dismiss this find as a prank, but similar things have been found in other parts of the world In Australia, in the state of Queensland, in 2021, scientists discovered an ancient fragment of the skeleton of a flying creature with a wingspan of about 7 m and a skull a whole meter long. Moreover, there were 40 teeth in the upper and lower jaws. I wouldn't want to come face to face with such a creature. Archaeologists believe that this creature's neck was extremely long and its body was small. Most likely, this is a rare species of flying reptile Anhangwer.
They lived about 112 million years ago and probably ate fish. In any case, their jaws are clearly designed to catch prey. These were the first vertebrates to learn to fly. And although scientists say that Anhangwers should live on all continents, their remains are almost impossible to find. Throughout history, only fragments of skeletons have been found, mostly jaws. But the most interesting thing is that this species has another strange feature. Large bony crest on the lower upper jaws. It is believed that these crests helped the Anhangwer maintain balance during flight. And, as the scientists themselves admit, they make them very similar to mythical dragons.
Moreover, there is a find that indirectly confirms that these animals could have existed simultaneously with mammoths and, perhaps, even with humans. When John Reeves was processing another Mammoth fossil about 10 years ago, he had no idea that he was about to discover something that would eclipse all his previous finds. His "Bone Yard" mine is located in Alaska. There, in the permafrost, the remains of the Pleistocene epoch have been preserved in their original state In this region, conditions are ideal for preserving not only bones but also soft tissues. After mammoth tusks are pulled from the ground, they require special processing. Plugs are placed on the tusks to prevent them from splitting, and they are dried.
Unsuspecting, John was just putting clamps on another tusk, which was retrieved from a depth of about 20 m. But suddenly something absolutely incredible happened. A blue feather just flew out of the blue. But how did it even end up there? Reeves's enthusiasm knew no bounds, as in all his years of collecting he had never seen anything like it. He considers this to be the most significant find so far. In addition, paleontologists claim that there were no birds with blue feathers in Alaska during the Ice Age. At the same time, the opera is so small that it was not possible to conduct a carbon analysis of it After the procedure, there will simply be nothing left of it
Perhaps it will become the key to unraveling the history of creatures that we still know about mainly from legends. But let's assume that dragons really existed. How real are they from a biological point of view and could dragons do what legends attribute to them? In Chinese, Japanese, and ancient Greek mythology, dragons were aquatic floating monsters. But the thing is, the largest underwater animals we know of are mammals. Whales, walruses, seals, and dolphins are born with the necessary set of biological adaptations to spend their lives in or near water. But dragons definitely don't belong among the saints. And, judging by myths and
finds, they are more like dinosaurs, giant lizards. And among them were also underwater monsters, for example, a plesiosaurus. Its broad barrel-shaped body and smooth, scaleless skin helped it maneuver well in the water. A small head on a very long neck would allow it to approach fish imperceptibly, which perceive only large objects as a danger. Thanks to its short tail and fangs on all four limbs, this predator literally flew under water. After the plesiosaurs became extinct, mososaurs took their place.
This predatory foot-and-mouthed animal also had an optically shaped body, but its head was larger, on a short neck, with a large toothy mouth. They were already looking more like dragons. Bozosaurus swam not by using motor fins, but by bending its body and striking with its long tail. Such a predator did not sneak up on its prey, but pursued and attacked it. It turns out that water dragons do not contradict the laws of biology.
What about flying? Dragons from legends may seem too bulky to fly, but science knows examples of very large animals that could rise into the air. The largest of them are pterosaurs. Their wingspan was as much as 10 m. The whole secret is in the ratio of wing size to the mass of the creature. Vterosaurs could weigh up to 250 kg, and their bones were partially hollow with walls only a few millimeters thick. At the same time, they were very strong due to internal struts, just like in an airplane wing. Because the voids inside the bones were filled with air, they were very light. But dragon bones could be filled with methane, for example. It is itself lighter than air, so it would allow
even more massive creatures than a pterosaur to fly. And if dragons really did have a bone structure like that of large birds, that could be the main reason we don't find their fossilized skeletons. The thing is, porous bones simply collapse before they fossilize. Perhaps that is why we still have no direct evidence of their existence. But what about the most important ability of dragons? Breathe fire? Is this possible from a biological point of view? It turns out that such animals can not only exist theoretically, but already live next to us. The bombardier beetle can shoot hot liquid from paired glands on its abdomen. To do this, it has two tanks with
different chemicals and a separate chamber in which these substances are mixed. When the Beetle wants to shoot boiling water at the enemy, the walls of the first tank contract, the mixture of reagents enters the second chamber and chemical reactions occur there. As a result, the mixture is heated to 100° C. In the process, oxygen is released, the volume of the substance in the chamber increases, and it is ejected under pressure through the holes at the tip of the abdomen. By the same principle, a dragon could create a chemical reaction and spew a stream of fire. And that's not even the only way to breathe fire.
Many animals, including humans, produce methane during digestion. This is a gas that can easily ignite. And instead of using it for useless belching, the dragon could accumulate methane in tanks and, if necessary, use this supply for much more interesting purposes. But even if methane is flammable, how do you set it on fire? Don't carry a lighter with you all the time. In fact, dragons could literally carry a lighter inside them, because small deposits of flint and steel on their teeth are enough to create a spark. And then it only takes one click of the jaws for a stream of flame to erupt from the dragon's mouth But won't it harm the dragon itself? The silver Saharan moth has a special remedy for this case.
Reflective bristles that cover her body like a metal suit. Thanks to this, ants can live peacefully in an environment where the temperature can rise to 70°C. And since a powerful dragon doesn't need to endure the heat of flames on a constant basis, such protection should be quite sufficient. It turns out that the structure of the dragon does not contradict biology at all, but there is one but. The thing is, evolution always strives for simplicity. Why assemble such complex structures into one creature? This is completely unnecessary for survival and also unreliable. For hunting, sharp fangs and a powerful mouth are enough. And you can defend yourself with blows from a long, strong tail or simply fly away if you have wings.
Therefore, even if dragons existed, they would quickly become extinct, giving way to a more optimized species. But let's imagine for a second that these legendary animals did exist, survived all the ice ages with mass extinctions, and did not fall victim to humans. If only they could fit into our lives and our world. Since dragon legends exist in all cultures, they would be widespread. It is likely that they appeared at the same time as the dinosaurs, when all the continents were still united. Over time, the lithospheric plates moved. And it could happen that the descendants of one species ended up in completely different conditions.
This could have led to the emergence of flying, floating, and even terrestrial varieties of dragons. Most likely, these animals would have evolved according to the same logic as other vertebrates. Therefore, you shouldn't expect to meet a dragon like in a movie. Feathered dragons that could fly would have lost this ability, just like modern large birds. Although they retain supporting bones, the wings will gradually shrink in the course of evolution until they disappear altogether. Having lost the ability to fly, dragons would have been forced to move from the mountains to the plains and find alternative ways to obtain food.
Eventually, they would stop hunting and switch to a diet of snails, worms, and fruit. At the same time, they have preserved fleshy hind legs with claws and a powerful beak. Wait, that's a kiwi bird. Only several times larger. They would definitely be kept on farms. Surely, such dragons lay eggs worse than ostriches. I wonder what fate awaits their aquatic brethren? Water dragons evolved to have fins instead of limbs, or perhaps lost their limbs altogether due to their uselessness. At some stage of development, they became covered with
scales and became completely smooth to better maneuver in the water. Most likely, they would have fed on fish and small crustaceans, and the ability to produce flame would have been lost along with their limbs. Instead, to hunt and defend themselves underwater, dragons would use venom, and they would look exactly like an olive sea snake. Yes, this is the most powerful sea monster that has terrified sailors for centuries. Perhaps evolution would have been more favorable to land dragons. It seems they would be the only dragon species that would be lucky in the course of evolution. Terrestrial individuals would not have walked on four legs and would have been the largest of
modern lizards. They would live in the desert, where they could well retain not only sharp teeth, but also fiery breath. These dragons would become, if not the most fearsome predators, then at least very unpleasant creatures. They would feed on medium- sized mammals and perhaps even attack humans. Just like modern Komodo dragons. It seems that in the fantasies of our ancestors, dragons looked much more impressive than through the prism of science. But what if I told you that today you can still meet a real dragon.
One of them lives in the tropics and surpasses even the most incredible description in legends. It has a long, elongated body and a blue color. On the sides of the dragon are two pairs of paws. The front ones look like wings. They are branchy, with long fingers at the ends. The hind legs are smaller, but also have appendages that house digestive glands. The dragon has tentacles near its mouth. To make it easier to deal with prey, it can lie in wait for its victim for hours, hiding underwater so that it cannot be noticed. And that terrible beast, the blue sea dragon, a tiny mollusk up to 40 mm in size. We would like to meet someone like this, but a hundred times bigger.
