15. From Dinosaur Fossils to Dragon Myths
Dragon mythology might have originated with ancient discoveries of dinosaur fossils and those of huge extinct mammals. Take how the ancient Greeks depicted the Monster of Troy in vases and other artwork. It resembles a Samotherium, an extinct giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean. In parts of China where fossils of large extinct creatures are readily found, they are described as “dragon bones”. Similarly, dragons in northern Indian lore closely resemble the extinct animals that left giant fossils strewn across the foothills of the Himalayas.
Some scholars go farther yet in time, and argue that the origin of dragon lore is baked into us, from before we had even evolved into humans. Humans have an instinctive fear of snakes that originated with our ape ancestors millions of years ago. Snakes posed an especially high danger, and the peril was greatest for children. Evolution instilled in us so much fear of snakes, that children today, even in places that have no snakes, instinctively fear them. Such primal fears of snakes might have given rise to dragon lore. The theory is supported by the fact that the earliest known dragon tales depict them as snake-like.