There be dragons...

Today, 23rd April, is St George's Day. St George is the patron Saint of England and he is obviously famous for the story where he saved a fair maiden from the clutches of an evil dragon. Then using his mighty and trusty sword he supposably slew the dragon by removing its head with one swipe.

It's a good story but it only stands up if in fact dragons used to exist and there appears to be little evidence to say they did. However, interestingly different cultures have identical descriptions of dragon like animals.

Up to now no fossilised dragon remains have been found. Scientists have found a huge number of fossils of many different creatures and if dragons existed then surely fossilised evidence would exist.

http://www.crystalinks.com/dragon.gif

No animal currently alive breathes fire and this would appear to be a problem for living things, fire is hot, fire burns and denatures tissue, killing cells. Surely breathing fire would damage the dragon?

Dragons were supposed to have flown. This is a problem. In most myths dragons are the size of a small aeroplane. A light aeroplane is required to maintain a speed of at least 80mph to prevent stalling and to remain in flight. It is hard to imagine an animal that size moving at such a speed.

The above would then suggest that dragons as told in stories could not in fact have existed.

How then does that explain the descriptions of them in different cultures? Even Marco Polo suggested that the Chinese Royal Family kept dragons. There are references of dragons in the bible and in the logs of huntsmen long past...

There are some academics that advocate the existence of dragons. Scientists at the University of York have suggested that dragons might have had a stomach similar to a cow but one that created large amounts of hydrogen from the reactions with its hydrochloric acid. This hydrogen would provide lift for the dragon meaning that it would find it easier to fly. What is more it is suggested that as the dragon dived out of the sky towards its prey it would have to expel some hydrogen which would ignite in its mouth.

Additionally, it is suggested by these scientists that the dragon would have been protected from the fire by heat resistant skin, this actually exists on certain specialised animals that live in ecosystems often ravaged by wildfire. So entirely possible after all.

And in a lovely twist of nature the large amounts of hydrochloric acid that would help create the hydrogen gas would also cause the remains of a dead dragon to dissolve to nothing.

So maybe, just maybe dragons existed. Interesting.

Happy St George's Day; I for one think it should be a bank holiday.

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