If Dragons were real...

[Aeolius]

Animal Planet: Dragons

as for real-world dragons.... Nessie

 

[tuxgeo]

A dragon would be large, but not as large as those in myth - myths tend to exaggerate size, after all. I'm imagining them as something roughly the size of a horse, with a large wing span that could fold up. They would be quadrepeds, with the "wings" being flaps underneath the forearms, similar to that of a bat's. These wings would not allow flight, but perhaps gliding - leading to dragons living in mountainous and hilly-cliff areas, especially areas with thermals that could raise the dragons hundreds of feet in the air. Because of their gliding ability, they'd be excellent climbers.
. . .
Because they are gliders and are rather large, I see dragons as being nocturnal creatures -

Aren't thermals a diurnal phenomenon caused by the heat of the sun? Don't thermals fade and die at night? Dragongliders would have to hunt by day.

 

[Wik]

Aren't thermals a diurnal phenomenon caused by the heat of the sun? Don't thermals fade and die at night? Dragongliders would have to hunt by day.

Ha. Good point. My bad.

 

[El Mahdi]

I'm actually a little confused about the question. Are you asking what we could infer about "real" dragons (presumably now extinct) based on the myths humans have made about them, sort of a speculative anthropology and paleontology?

That would be interesting to think about given the differing roles eastern and western dragons take in their respective mythologies. Just a simple-minded one, for example: while western dragons I'm pretty sure would be carnivorous, would eastern dragons also be? (I really don't know; I'm not familiar enough with the mythology.) I also get the impression their intelligence levels would be different, which would have ramifications for how they interact with people. And if the two dragons actually were the same creature, why are they perceived so differently by the two culture groups?

Yes. This is exactly what I'm attempting to explore.

Maybe not 100%, but it seems that most Dragon myths have their origins in Asia and Eastern Europe. Perhaps there is a relation between myth origins and human migrations?

And what is the commonality between Asian and European Dragon myths?

 

[Umbran]

...reasons for different descriptions by different human cultures?

This one is simple - different species in different regions.

 

[Alzrius]

If dragons were real...

...then I think that eventually we'd see Barbara Walters conducting an interview wherein she puts the lie to this popular belief:

Half-dragons are only rarely the result of dragons mating with other creatures—most are the result of strange magical experiments.

The title of the interview would be "Deadbeat Dragons," and it would deal with what it was like for young half-dragons that grew up in single-parent households, facing prejudice for their bi-racial status, and how they felt about being thought of as freaks of magical experimentation.

 

[DragonLancer]

There was a docufiction from the animal planet about this a few years ago.

The Last Dragon (2004 TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I saw that a couple years back. An acquaitance of mine lent me the DVD. It's quite a clever attempt to show how they might have been real.

 

[Katana_Geldar]

I like Patrick Rothfuss' take on dragons, saying they'd have to be herbivores as a carnovore couldn't find that much meat.

 

[Diamond Cross]

Hmmmmm

My idea for a new dragon is that they can absorb energy from the sun and don't need to eat.

And they have random breath weapons.

And color.

 

[Canor Morum]

They would probably be driven to extinction by humans, hunted for dragon burgers and dragonscale purses.