Mythical creatures

[Cyhort]

Maybe dragons, in some form, did exist at one time. However unless we find some type or fossil or remains we'll never know for sure. The argument that all those different ancient cultures had myths about dragons actually makes it less likely that they ever existed. If they were common enough for vastly different cultures in different parts of the world to have seen them then we probably would have found some sign of their existence by now. Still, like I said, there's currently no way to know for sure and lack of proof doesn't mean they're were never any dragons.

[Rodri]

The closest thing to a dragon in Australian Aboriginal mythology is the Rainbow Serpent.
This is a creation story as the Rainbow Serpent moved through the land carving the river beds and creating the mountain ranges, bringing life to the land.
It is interesting to note that the Rainbow Serpent appears in the stories (which are actually songs) from different tribes all over Australia, as they are very diverse in most other respects.
The Chinese also considered Dragons to be a beneficial creature, being a water elemental spirit. The Mayans also worshiped a winged serpent, but their God was blood thirsty, requiring ritual human sacrifices on a regular basis.
Is there a deep seated memory of creatures from the past? I would tend to think not. Perhaps what might have happened was that our early ancestors would find the fossil remains of dinosaurs and tried to imagine what such a creature must have been like when they were alive. After all, that is what we still do today, only we now use scientific method and have better tools than our ancient relatives.

[abracax]

In cultures dragons are good snakes are too. Snakes are a zodiac in china, and in South America the Snake was their heavenly king.

You might be thinking of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatle. He was a beared man that came to them on a flying boat, however is represented as a winged serpent. He was the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge.

It is said that he gave them the knowledge of medicine, mathematics and of the stars.

[Kailrik]

Dragons, I don't believe exist like most say they do (ten to twenty feet long, fire breathing) but there is truth in it, I think. Most say that they are bones found in the ground. My question- After years of extensive archeological digging, we have come up with many fossils, true, but the main thing that concerned our ancestors was hunting, gathering, surviving and all things related. Not looking in the dirt for bones of a dead animal. I can see a few bones being found by root-gathering, but how would they get enough to see the shape of a dragon in such common ways? All were scaled, all were slithery like snakes... Correct me if I am wrong on any level here. I do love dragons and other mythical beings, but I have not had enough of a life to say that they are a life-long obsession (but they are on their way to that!)

[Lord Arumen]

You might be thinking of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatle. He was a beared man that came to them on a flying boat, however is represented as a winged serpent. He was the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge.

It is said that he gave them the knowledge of medicine, mathematics and of the stars.

And the ruler of the 5th wheel, or Aztec heaven.

[Kalent]

I cant say i totally believe in dragons, a creature spiting out fire? although, saying dragons could be an ancestor of some sort to dinosaurs makes sense, look at the teridactil (i don't think i spelled that right) its a "creature" with wings and fly's, i think ancient people might have mistaken dragons for dinosaurs maybe?

Impossible.. No kind of human-like creatures lived when the pterodactyls existed.

[Darkbrady]

Keep in mind that back then scientific knowledge was at a low; folklore and stories ruled the day. If a child came back sayin' that he saw a flyin' beast that matched the description of a snake/dragon, he would be taken much more seriously than he would nowadays.

The kid then goes outside and points to a komodo in the bush and a story is created. Artists envision this thing flyin' in the air and draw their own dramatisation of it.

There's nothin' to say that their stories off of were completely true; the had a baseline (dragons, snakes, reptiles..) and used their art to bring it to life. Keep in mind that not much of ancient art depicts an exact image of what things actually looked like; even pictures of humans were skewed to a degree.

Lookin' for somethin' exactly as described in ancient lore is about as futile as tryin' to prove that god exists up in the sky. But we can look at what the stories were based off of.

Snakes, reptiles and dragons bein' the obvious baseline for..well...flyin' dragons.

Unicorns were obviously enough based off of wild, vicious horses (unicorns were not always origianlly happy love-givin' ponies; they used to be considered fierce animals; in the Scottish Coat of Arms there's a Unicorn on the right thas shackled up; it's shackled because back then wild Unicorns were considered the most dangerous animal)

Those ones are pretty easy...I always find more interest in the wild, extreme ones; the Chimera, for example. How did they originally put together that beast?

[abracax]

Ok, here is another one, Giant eagles. Otherwise known as the Thunderbird, Roc, and in New Zealand as Pouakai, Hokioi or Hakawai. These birds are considered to be myth however many cultures around the world have tales of giant birds of prey that can carry a man away or even some bigger animals. Recently they found fossils in New Zealand of the species there(Haast's eagle), they are believed to have gone extinct between 500-700 years ago. Since there are myths on every continent of birds of large birds of prey and fossils have been found in New Zealand, does this mean the Thunderbird or Roc (which were big enough to carry off bison and water buffalo) existed?

[Kalent]

Keep in mind that back then scientific knowledge was at a low; folklore and stories ruled the day. If a child came back sayin' that he saw a flyin' beast that matched the description of a snake/dragon, he would be taken much more seriously than he would nowadays.

The kid then goes outside and points to a komodo in the bush and a story is created. Artists envision this thing flyin' in the air and draw their own dramatisation of it.

There's nothin' to say that their stories off of were completely true; the had a baseline (dragons, snakes, reptiles..) and used their art to bring it to life. Keep in mind that not much of ancient art depicts an exact image of what things actually looked like; even pictures of humans were skewed to a degree.

Lookin' for somethin' exactly as described in ancient lore is about as futile as tryin' to prove that god exists up in the sky. But we can look at what the stories were based off of.

Snakes, reptiles and dragons bein' the obvious baseline for..well...flyin' dragons.

Unicorns were obviously enough based off of wild, vicious horses (unicorns were not always origianlly happy love-givin' ponies; they used to be considered fierce animals; in the Scottish Coat of Arms there's a Unicorn on the right thas shackled up; it's shackled because back then wild Unicorns were considered the most dangerous animal)

Those ones are pretty easy...I always find more interest in the wild, extreme ones; the Chimera, for example. How did they originally put together that beast?

[img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lVvM5tfzc3w/Rn_GfSlFr8I/AAAAAAAAAe4/PJdPYvTpcwY/s400/chimera.jpg/[img]

As I've heard many times, legends and folklore all have a dash of truth in them.. If we could successfully analyze what the truth and false is of these legends and folklore, there would be much more knowledge about the past.

[Lord Arumen]

Ok, here is another one, Giant eagles. Otherwise known as the Thunderbird, Roc, and in New Zealand as Pouakai, Hokioi or Hakawai. These birds are considered to be myth however many cultures around the world have tales of giant birds of prey that can carry a man away or even some bigger animals. Recently they found fossils in New Zealand of the species there(Haast's eagle), they are believed to have gone extinct between 500-700 years ago. Since there are myths on every continent of birds of large birds of prey and fossils have been found in New Zealand, does this mean the Thunderbird or Roc (which were big enough to carry off bison and water buffalo) existed?

Two different creatures:

A Roc is an african/asian giant hawk

A Thunder Bird is a Native American Giant Eagle.

(This isnt supposed to sound condescending, sorry if it does)