Could dragons have existed?

[Ayoungnerd]

A few weeks ago I watched the television premeire " Dragons: A fantasy made real". It showed how dragons could've flown, breathed fire, lived in the mezizoic era and eventually became extinct in the middle ages. I thought it was pretty good but I need more opinions about it to think how credulous this theory is in a wider perspective.

[TeleMad]

Originally Posted by Ayoungnerd

A few weeks ago I watched the television premeire " Dragons: A fantasy made real". It showed how dragons could've flown, breathed fire, lived in the mezizoic era and eventually became extinct in the middle ages. I thought it was pretty good but I need more opinions about it to think how credulous this theory is in a wider perspective.

The show had nothing going for it but some neat special effects. And it was misleading. How? It presented itself in a documentary style: a despicable approach that crappy science channels - Discovery, The Learning Channel, and now Animal Planet - have stooped to in the past few years. Hey, did you know that baby dragons stay by their mothers sides for 6 months? That's what the documentary said. Hey, did you know that parent dragons breathe fire onto the egg-containing nests to incubate them? That's what the documentary said. Hey, did you know that sex of dragon offspring is determined by the temperature the eggs were "cooked" at? That's what the documentary said. Did you know that the shells of dragon eggs are fire proof? That's what the documentary said. Did you know that dragons had gas bladders? That's what the documentary said. Did you know that dragons had molars? That's what the documentary said. Hey, did you know that dragons ground platinum with their molars, using the platinum to catalyze the ignition of the H2 in their gas bladders? That's what the documentary said.

I wasn't misled because I know better, but my nephew - and even his mother to some degree (she was confused, not duped) - who is very sharp and into science, was misled by their saying that scientists had found a dragon frozen in ice and were able to dissect it,

The show should have been required by law to interject every 5 minutes a disclaimer that says, "This is all hypothetical crap that we fabricated: do not be misled into believing that any of this is real".

[C1ay]

Sure dragons exist, I have a bearded dragon myself. He doesn't breath fire or fly or anything but he's still a fun pet. Those dragons you're referring to are just plain fantasy though. Just be careful with what you see on TV and don't believe any of it unless you can verify it through numerous other sources.

[orbsycli]

dragons would be so incredible!

[Buffy]

They did: they were called colloquially pterodactyls. They didn't breathe fire, and no knight in shining armor ever got the chance to try to slay one in the process of saving a damsel in distress, but they did exist!

The fire breathing part is an interesting issue: it pretty much would require the evolution of skin/muscle bone that would not get barbequed in use. It probably could happen though, its just that the existing fossils and life forms show that it hasn't evolved on Earth as far as we know. Who knows, maybe this is where birds will evolve. They already have beaks that are pretty tough material, and there's no reason why some sort of poison like snakes and other animals have evolved couldn't turn out to be quite flamable, then all you'd need would be teeth with properties similar to flint.

Evolution! Its an amazing thing!

Cheers,
Buffy

[paultrr]

In the pre-show ads the show starts with the premise what if Dragons had existed. The anchient reptiles that once walked this planet would to modern man appear very simular to the dragons of legend and myth. Granted they did not breath fire in the literal sence of the word. Some may have been able to spit poison and or acid base substances which if perhaps man had been around would have seemed like they spit fire of sorts. The legend about dragons probably came about via anchient man seeing the preserved evidence of huge lizard like creatures in the rock around them. Given anchient man's attempts at explaining things and the way gosip tends to work its not hard to figure out how the legends about them arose.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by paultrr

The legend about dragons probably came about via anchient man seeing the preserved evidence of huge lizard like creatures in the rock around them.....

Or really interesting psychoactive substances, or strong ale...

Cheers,
Buffy

[paultrr]

Like the anchient witch's flying brew with a little poison in it to send one on a trip where they imagine they are flying.

[orbsycli]

all of those crazy stories you hear about centuries ago make so much sense when you consider mind alteration.

[paultrr]

Originally Posted by orbsycli

all of those crazy stories you hear about centuries ago make so much sense when you consider mind alteration.

I've always found the cartoon series the Ninja Turtles was the product of a bit too much LDS back in the sixties also. Back in the days when I used to experiment and party the only time that series made any sence to me was when I was stoned. Yet I had kids that loved it. On that note try watching the Teletubbies straight.