Dragons
There are many theories about the origins of dragons, such as dinosaurs and Chinese legends. The main one being that dragons were mislabelled for dinosaur fossils, this dating back to the 4th century. The reason behind this being that there is not that much difference between the skeleton of a dragon and some dinosaurs, for example a fossilised stegosaurus could have been mistaken due to its size and armoured plates and scales.
Many legends and folktales have been written about dragons, this being that they are magical creatures to which early naturalists once treated as part of the natural world. Biologists in Europe also once wrote accounts of the behaviour and habitat of dragons along with other reptiles such as lizards and snakes.
China also have a large association with dragons in which has said to have been within the culture for at least 6 thousand years, so much so that emperors in accent China were identified as the sons of dragons and at that time ordinary citizens were not allowed to have items or pictures of dragons. The references of the dragon occurs prominently in early philosophical texts as well as in the images of shamanistic worship. There are many myths and tales about the creature for example being identified as one of the four primary benevolent spiritual animals which symbolised all things male. As well as being a zodiac symbol the dragon also has many other qualities such as being able to transform into other species such as human or birds, also being able to control the weather. Dragons in China are very symbolic creatures for example they are seen as lucky, propitious, powerful, and noble and not seen as monsters as they are portrayed in Western stories.
