Do you believe dragons have existed in the past?

[Deleted]

Have they?
It seems quite absurd to me that such a represented figure for thousands of years have never really existed.
Now well i am not really into the behemoth sized - flame breathing icon that has been portrayed throughout the media and especially video games, but it is not that abstract to believe that large,snake-bodied creatures with wings and possibly large fangs and claws could have existed in the past.

If you take a look at the traditional Chinese horoscope that was created some thousand years ago, it is composed by 12 animals which all of them are extremely common, except dragons. Those animals are : Dog,sheep,horse,snake,dragon,monkey,pig,bull,cock(chicken),rabbit,tiger and mouse.
That makes it even harder to believe that the majestic dragon was just the spark of the imagination of Chinese folklore.

Now the reason of their extinction is not really clear to me, but bio-historically speaking many of the large animals that existed pre-historically were quite prone to extinction.

What is your opinion on the subject?

[Deleted]

Dragons have never existed. You are right, many large animals existed in the very distant past, but we were able to find the fossilized remains of those, this never happened to dragons and proves that they never existed.

[kel]

yeah, dragons existed but they were cast back into the future by the heroes of old.

[Deleted]

no they have not.

[Sydarm]

Dragons have never existed. You are right, many large animals existed in the very distant past, but we were able to find the fossilized remains of those, this never happened to dragons and proves that they never existed.

It actually doesn't prove anything considering the world has been around billions of years and so has life. and dinosaurs are consider "recent" ... if u asked dinosaurs if humans existed, they would say no. now we do. same concept

[Deleted]

That is the most evident reason of denying their existence because it actually makes scientific sense. But well, a man can dream can't he

[Reluctant]

No they have not, but dinosaur fosils have been found all over the world seeing giant monsters like those in the olden times would make u believe there where these huge creatures out there. Thenn as happens whenn a story gets retold a milion times things get added like the fire breathing.

[Hexotic]

People found dinosaur remains in caves and underground making assumptions that these massive creatures lived there. Thats pretty much it.

[Deleted]

Dragons have never existed. You are right, many large animals existed in the very distant past, but we were able to find the fossilized remains of those, this never happened to dragons and proves that they never existed.

although your first sentance is correct, your assumptions as to why it is are completely wrong. absence of evidence is not evidence of absence (!!). are you aware of the fact that there are soooooo many more species that have once existed that we dont know of because we did not find fossils or equally potent proof of them? geez... the only true reason for an impossible existance of dragons is the bio mechanics behind them. it's just not possible.

[Grizzly Willy]

The mechanics required for the common interpretation of a dragon, being one that breathes fire and has the ability to fly, make the possibility of one having existed in the past on Earth very slim.

[Callace]

They share similarities with other animals. It was very common in the middle ages and before for cultures to invent hodgepodges with features of multiple animals. Chimeras, griffons, etc. People from the past had bigger imaginations in some respects. because they knew relatively so little.

[Merkava]

In the Penelope Lively novel Moon Tiger, there's a scene where Claudia has a conversation with her daughter Lisa whom she describes as "dull" but she, as Hitchens puts it "nonetheless delights in the infant's dim but imaginative questions":
"Are there dragons?" she asked. I said that there were not. "Have there ever been?" I said all the evidence was to the contrary. "But
if there is a word dragon," she said, "then once there must have been dragons."

Have they?
It seems quite absurd to me that such a represented figure for thousands of years have never really existed.

If that's a criteria for existence, I would simply point to the pantheons of gods that have been invented and then cast aside throughout history.

[Deleted]

That is the most evident reason of denying their existence because it actually makes scientific sense. But well, a man can dream can't he

no. dragons do not make scientific sense. not at all.

[Olianda]

It actually doesn't prove anything considering the world has been around billions of years and so has life. and dinosaurs are consider "recent" ... if u asked dinosaurs if humans existed, they would say no. now we do. same concept

It's not the same concept. Using your logic, dragons will someday exist.

OT: I think that dinosaurs may have lasted longer than many people seem to think. There's many stories of people fighting dragons (or great lizards). It makes sense to me that the dinosaurs and dragons may have been one and the same.

[Callace]

The mechanics required for the common interpretation of a dragon, being one that breathes fire and has the ability to fly, make the possibility of one having existed in the past on Earth very slim.

Flying reptilians are entirely possible. But fire-breathing has never been observed in nature to my knowledge.

[RyanEX]

It's a tough question. The canon response would be "No" since everyone believes their just fantasy creatures linked with novels and video games.

Personally i believe "Yes", or rather something that passed as dragons did exist.

Reasoning...Many ancient civilisations give reference to dragons in some shape or form. You have the traditional fire breathers from English and European lore. The long snake like dragons from Asian and Central American lore. How can all the civilisations, oceans apart with no contact all give names to the same creature? It's always been something that bugged me.

[Deleted]

Nobody know, we might not have found any files but we haven't looked everywhere have we? So nobody knows...thats it.

[Resentful]

I'm not sure myself, There's a lot of stuff we haven't really seen or discovered however my answer would probably be leaning towards no until we find a fossilized remained of it or even a piece of it truly.

[Deleted]

In the Penelope Lively novel Moon Tiger, there's a scene where Claudia has a conversation with her daughter Lisa whom she describes as "dull" but she, as Hitchens puts it "nonetheless delights in the infant's dim but imaginative questions":
"Are there dragons?" she asked. I said that there were not. "Have there ever been?" I said all the evidence was to the contrary. "But
if there is a word dragon," she said, "then once there must have been dragons."

a lovely tale, haha. hitchens put it very well. may his mind never be forgotten, he was a reputable man

[Idontlikeyou]

Dragons have never existed. You are right, many large animals existed in the very distant past, but we were able to find the fossilized remains of those, this never happened to dragons and proves that they never existed.

So anything we have not discovered, does not exist, and has never existed.

Gotcha.