Real
Dragons?
Did the dragon once live?
All
of the Oriental dragons were intimately associated with water. Dragons lived
in lakes and rivers and seas, even in raindrops. They controlled the tides, floods
and rainfall. If they really existed, then a source that immediately comes to
mind is the Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis. They are not as large
as their American cousin, ranging from an average two metres in length to sometimes
three metres. But they are dangerous, reptilian and water-based - all good reasons
for linking them to the Oriental dragon. But only if you haven't heard of the
predecessors of the real-life Komodo dragon .
Australian
monitor lizards all belong to the genus Varanus. They are easily identifiable
by their streamlined shape, elongated neck, semi-erect posture, and a forked tongue
- which can give the effect of fire-breathing. They all look very similar except
for their size differences, which are extreme to say the least. The smallest
is the pygmy monitor Varanus brevicauda (20 centimetres long, weighs 8-10
grams). The largest in Australia is the perentie or Varanus giganteus,
which can attain a length of two metres.
 This
is just a small portion of my online book, Survive 2012 - a look into possible
ways our world might end, and how to survive. Available in bookstores sometime
before 2012, fingers-crossed... |
Larger
still are the Komodo
Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) of Indonesia, a country that the ancient
Chinese would certainly
have visited. [20]
They can reach lengths of three metres and weigh 150 kgs, [21] making them the world's largest lizards. They
are formidable predators, like crocodiles that are able to run quickly across
land. They were probably the reason that the stegodonts (pygmy elephants) [22]
became extinct in this area. They might even have wiped out the 1-metre tall,
miniature humans, Homo floresiensis, who lived there up until 12,000 years
ago.
These dragons were previously more widespread,
with evidence of them once occurring in Mongolia coming to light. [23]
And in Queensland, Australia, only becoming extinct 19,000 years ago (take that
date with a pinch of salt), was a bigger lizard still, a cousin of the Komodo
dubbed Megalania prisca.
Megalania
prisca, as we have learned from fossil evidence, grew to be a staggering seven
metres in length and weighed 600 kgs [24].
Although it was technically a lizard, it must have had the presence of a dinosaur,
and almost certainly ate a few of the humans of that era. But it's usual meal
was more likely to have been rhinoceros-sized wombats. [Strange days indeed with
gigantism seeming to be rampant.] These meals are believable when you consider
that Komodo dragons have been known to kill water buffalo weighing three times
more than themselves. [25]
Which
brings us back to ancient Rome! Pliny, the Roman naturalist, said that the dragon
of India was
"so enormous a
size as easily to envelop the elephant with its folds and encircle with its coils.
The contest is equally fatal to both; the elephant, vanquished, falls to the earth
and by its weight crushes the dragon which is entwined about it."
He
also mentioned the dragons of Ethiopia, which, with a length of only thirty feet,
were too small to kill elephants. Other European myths state that dragons always
jumped onto elephants from out of trees. Is this all just fantasy, amazing stories
concocted to scare children with? Or is it just as reasonable to suggest that
dragons once lived?
So where are we heading? On
the one hand there are myths connecting dragons to global destruction and rebirth.
On the other are links to DNA, ancient languages, ancient calendars and the I
Ching. And now I am taking a big breath and suggesting that the mythical dragons
were rooted in reality, that knights in shining armour actually killed real dragons,
and somehow it all makes sense. This is where a new theory of evolution comes
in.. stay tuned.
Back to the
Survive2012 home page
Discuss Survive
2012 at our forumGive the author your thoughts, and discuss any 2012
ideas with others, at 2012 Forum |
Comments from Visitors
Billy Dempsey:
I love this website. I am currently working on a Social Studies Fair project entitled: "Dragons: Myth or Reality." This website has helped me alot and I will be competing in the state competition and plan to win.
(04.04.2004, 12:31)
soopokinroughsex:
Why try to survive 2012. If something is going to happen its going to happen. I belive it will be transcendence, we will all become free of our physical bodies
(23.04.2004, 20:21)
Sarah:
this is an awesome thing that this dude is writing, I believe that he should definetly try to finish it soon because my friend and I would absolutely love this
(01.05.2004, 13:07)
Shadow Unity:
Your ideas are intresting to say the least but i still fell you are missing a link. Try looking at snakes.
(03.05.2004, 15:27)
Anon:
awesome page full of information better than the nyu library
(03.05.2004, 17:01)
dutch dragon:
another great site...
- DRAKEN
- search for DRAKEN whith google (www.google.com)
- and click the first link...
(25.05.2004, 03:19)
Xoe Stone:
Although this is just speculation on my part, it seems perhaps gigantism could perhaps be related to and/or the result of the same genetic mutations mentioned elsewhere in this site?
(02.07.2004, 15:27)
Xoe Stone:
Also, in re dragons...I certainly believe there is ample evidence to suggest dragons did indeed exist in a physical form (perhaps several) and, further, that their "memory" remained in popular folk lore and history because they so deeply impacted our earliest ancestors. I would think this would especially be the case if our earliest ancestors found themselves on the "dinner menu". What now is considered myth and legend most likely started as a survival mechanism. At least, it seems so to me.
(02.07.2004, 15:39)
8 of 88 comments (part 5) [
«
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better, visit 2012 Forum
Script by Alex
|
[20] Some ancient Chinese texts even tell of Australian
kangaroos and boomerangs
[22] Diamond, Jared. 1992. "The Evolution of
Dragons." Discover 13(12): 72-80.
[23] Wilford, J.N., After 60 years, Scientists Return
to Fossil 'Paradise' of the Gobi. Science Times. The New York Times, Tuesday,
July 29, 1990, pp. B5 and B8.
[24] (Hecht 1975; Auffenberg 1981; Rich 1985).
