Chasing Dragons

There are stories about dragons in almost every country. Why?

Some people think the stories may come from animals that used to roam the earth. 

Let’s go back to that skeleton the man found 2,000 years ago. The island where it was found has many fossils. A fossil is what is left of plants and animals from long ago. 

A forest fire could have cleared the land so that people could see the fossils in the ground. 

Scientists say the island had fossils of mastodons. They were kind of like elephants, but had thick brown fur. 

By the time the man found the skeleton, mastodons were extinct. They had all died out. People may have thought their skeletons were from dragons. 

There are stories about dragons around the world. Almost every country has them. Why?

Some people think the stories may come from animals that used to roam the earth. A long time ago, large animals used to move around freely.

Let’s go back to that skeleton the man found on the island 2,000 years ago. The island has many fossils. A fossil is what is left of plants and animals from long ago.

A forest fire could have burned all the trees and brush. That could have made it easier to see the ground, and then people could have found fossils.

Scientists say the island had fossils of mastodons. They were kind of like elephants. But they had thick brown fur.

By the time the man found the skeleton, mastodons had all died out. They were extinct. People may have thought their skeletons were from dragons.

There are stories about dragons in almost every country—why?

Some people think the stories may have originated from animals that used to roam the earth.

Let’s go back to that skeleton the man found 2,000 years ago. The island where it was found has many fossils, which are what is left of plants and animals from long ago.

A forest fire could have cleared the land. That let people observe the fossils in the ground.

Scientists say the island had fossils of mastodons, which were kind of like elephants but with thick brown fur.

By the time the man found the skeleton, mastodons had all died out, or were extinct. People may have thought their skeletons were from dragons.

Not all tales of dragons came from fossils. Some may have come from living animals! One story like this comes from a man named Pliny (PLIH-nee). 

Pliny lived almost 2,000 years ago in Italy. He wrote about dangerous creatures that lived in India. 

These animals dropped out of trees, wrapped themselves around elephants, and killed them! He had never seen these terrifying animals himself, but he had heard about them. He called them “dragons.” 

The thing is, India is very far from where Pliny lived. In India, there are enormous snakes called pythons. They act like the animals Pliny wrote about. 

Pythons don’t usually wrap themselves around elephants. But they do wrap themselves around birds, rats, monkeys, and even deer. And then they squeeze them to death. 

They are lethal. That means they are absolutely deadly. 

Pliny had read tales of dragons. He thought that’s what the strange and horrifying creatures must be. But they were just gigantic, dangerous snakes! 

Not all tales of dragons came from fossils. Some may have come from living animals! One story like this comes from a man named Pliny (PLIH-nee).

Pliny lived almost 2,000 years ago. He lived in Italy. He wrote about dangerous creatures that lived in India.

These animals dropped out of trees. They wrapped themselves around elephants and killed them! Pliny had never seen these scary animals. But he had heard about them. He called them “dragons.”

India is very far from where Pliny lived. In India, there are enormous snakes. They are called pythons. They act like the animals Pliny wrote about.

Pythons don’t usually wrap themselves around elephants. But they do wrap themselves around birds, rats, monkeys, and even deer. Then they squeeze them to death.

They are lethal. That means they are absolutely deadly.

Pliny had read stories about dragons. He thought that’s what the strange and scary creatures must be. But they were just huge and dangerous snakes! 

Not all tales of dragons originated from fossils. Some may have come from living animals! One story like this comes from a man named Pliny (PLIH-nee).

Pliny lived almost 2,000 years ago in Italy and wrote about dangerous creatures that lived in India.

These animals dropped out of trees, wrapped themselves around elephants, and killed them! Pliny had never seen these terrifying animals himself, but he had heard about them. He called them “dragons.”

The thing is, India is very far from where Pliny lived. In India, there are enormous snakes called pythons, and they act like the animals Pliny described.

Pythons don’t usually wrap themselves around elephants, but they do wrap themselves around other animals, like birds, rats, monkeys, and even deer. And then they squeeze them to death.

They are lethal, or absolutely deadly.

Pliny had read tales of dragons, and he thought that’s what the strange and horrifying creatures must be. But they were just gigantic, dangerous snakes!

Why do we have so many stories of dragons? Some people say that humans long ago had to watch out for predators. They had to look out for animals that could attack them, like lions and tigers. 

Maybe the fear of predators is stuck in our brains. Maybe we imagined one big, scary predator to stand in for all those dangerous animals. Maybe the scariest predator of all is one we made up: the dragon. 

Why are there so many stories about dragons? Humans long ago had to watch out for dangerous animals called predators. Predators are animals that could attack people, like lions and tigers.

The fear of predators could have stuck in people’s brains. They created one big, scary predator that could stand in for all the other dangerous animals. Maybe they made up the scariest predator, and that was the dragon.

Why do we have so many stories of dragons? Some people say that humans long ago had to watch out for predators, like lions and tigers.

Maybe the fear of predators is stuck in our brains, and we imagined one big, scary predator to stand in for all those dangerous animals. Maybe the scariest predator of all is one we invented—the dragon.

Dragons are still a big part of our world. You can make dragons from LEGO® bricks and play with toy dragons. You can watch movies and read stories about dragons. Some dragons you read about are even friendly!

There is one thing we know for sure. Many people love dragon stories. Do you? 

Dragons are still a big part of our world. You can make dragons from LEGO® bricks and play with toy dragons. You can watch movies and read stories about dragons. Some dragons you read about are even friendly!

There is one thing we know for sure. Many people love dragon stories. Do you? 

Dragons are still a huge part of our world. You can construct dragons from LEGO® bricks and play with toy dragons. You can watch movies and read stories about dragons. Some dragons you read about are even friendly!

The one thing we know for sure is that many people love dragon stories. Do you?