Archaeologists are scrutinizing the fossils
Mythical and legendary dragons with scientists' dragons
What does a dragon look like in the minds of scientists?
Black-footed Indian dragons still alive today?
Not only in ancient China, the dragon was one of the most important totems, but stories about dragons also circulated in Britain and Canada. Why does this mysterious animal always appear in the history and culture of different peoples in the world?
Phil Manning, a paleontologist at the Manchester Museum in the United Kingdom, believes that dragons and dinosaurs have a deep relationship, and dragons may also be an undiscovered link in the history of biological evolution, and the ancients may have found fossils of this ancient species, inferred the original appearance of the organism based on the fossils, and passed down as a collective memory. To prove his inference, Manning embarked on an archaeological expedition to mythology and legend.
Did he find evidence that the dragon once existed?
Dragons are mythical and legendary animals in China, as early as the Stone Age, the ancestors began to use the dragon as a totem to pray for blessings and disasters. Although the dragon was born out of the ancestors' fear of nature and the fascination of courage, it is a symbol of nothingness, but today, dragon culture has penetrated into many aspects of our social life. Moreover, this magical animal has also aroused great interest among more and more foreigners, and Phil Manning, a paleontologist at the Manchester Museum in the United Kingdom, is one of them, because there are also legends about dragons in Europe.
In the island of Great Britain, many people are familiar with such a historical story, born in the middle of the 3rd century AD, the Palestinian George, when he was the commander of the ancient Roman cavalry, once killed a dragon, the dragon's blood splashed on the ground, in the shape of a cross, and became the patron saint of the Crusades in the 12th century, and the "St. George's Flag" of the red cross on a white background was forever remembered by the British. And this dragon that appeared in British history has been an enduring source of creation for European artists for a long time.
Why did dragons always appear in the history and culture of different peoples in the world in the early days of human civilization? After years of researching dinosaur fossils, Manning made a bold speculation that dragons and dinosaurs have deep roots, and that dragons may also be an undiscovered link in the history of biological evolution. To test this hypothesis, Manning conducted this special archaeological expedition against myths and legends.
Some of the characteristics of Archaeopteryx resemble dragons?
Sorenhofen, a German country town located between the Danube and Artemire rivers, was once a basin in prehistory and is today famous for unearthing well-preserved fossil paleontology.
In 1784, the first pterosaur fossil was unearthed here. Later, in 1861, the sensational Archaeopteryx fossils were unearthed here. Today, these precious prehistoric fossils are preserved in the Hempeth Prehistory Gallery in Berlin. The first stop on Manning's entire trip was the gallery, where he was confident he would find clues about dragons.
By the time Manning arrived at the Hempote Museum of Prehistory, Dr. David Anway, director of the Reptiles Hall, was already preparing for his visit. Anwi showed Manning a skeleton the size of a crow, as slender and withered as a dry thatched rhizome, firmly "embedded" in the rock.
This is Archaeopteryx. Manning carefully observed this "flying dinosaur", although its appearance is somewhat "unremarkable", but its excavation shocked the world: on the one hand, it retains many reptile features, such as teeth and tail vertebrae; on the other hand, it has primary flight feathers, secondary flight feathers and other bird features. It means that there was such an animal in prehistory—it was both a bird and a beast.
However, this speculation was not agreed with by most scholars at that time, until more than 100 years later, Confucius birds and Chinese dragon birds were unearthed in the Beipiao area of Liaoning Province, China. The morphology and age of the Confucius bird are similar to those found in Germany, while the Chinese dragon bird that preceded the Confucius bird was identified as a small carnivorous dinosaur. The fossils of Confucius bird and Chinese dragon bird fully verify the fact that the existence of Archaeopteryx is not nonsense, and birds did evolve from dinosaurs.
Pterodactyl's cerebellar blade found evidence of "soaring clouds driving fog"?
Although Archaeopteryx resembles dragons in some characteristics, Manning believes that pterodactyls are more like dragons than Archaeopteryx. Pterodactyl appeared in the Mesozoic Triassic, is the earliest flying vertebrate on the earth, their size varies greatly, some are only the size of a sparrow, some are as large as small private jets, the largest known Aeolian pterosaur, its wingspan can reach more than 10 meters.
In Manning's mind, although the European dragon he imagined also soared through the clouds, it was clearly different from the Chinese dragon, the image of the Chinese dragon rarely saw wings, symbolizing auspiciousness, while the European dragon had wings, giving people a sense of evil. However, although the wings of the pterosaur have evolved very maturely, does this prove that it can indeed soar through the clouds and the fog, and indeed has a relationship with the legendary dragon?
In order to answer Manning's doubts, Anvey helped him to retrieve the research results of Professor Lawrence Wittmer of Ohio University in 2003. The professor built a three-dimensional image of the pterosaur's brain based on fossils, and prepared to determine its "cloud-riding fog" condition from the percentage of brain volume of its cerebellar blades. It was found that the cerebellar lobes of pterosaurs were quite developed, even accounting for 7.5% of the brain volume, the highest proportion among known vertebrates, and only 1% to 2% of the cerebellar lobes of birds that were the most adept at flying in the biological world. This most likely proves that Pterodactyls are well-deserved overlords of the air. This conclusion made Manning feel that his quest was close to success, and perhaps the legendary dragon was a kind of pterosaur.
"Dragon" footprints on fossils
Despite Lawton, Manning, at Anvey's suggestion, flew over the Atlantic the next day, and after several transit flights, finally arrived in North Dakota, the northernmost part of the United States, because not long ago, the "dinosaur mummy" that shocked the scientific community was discovered.
This "dinosaur mummy" is well preserved, the skin on its tail, forelimbs, and hind legs has not completely fallen off, and some of the skin tissue is clearly visible, and researchers can even see its internal organs with three-dimensional technical support. Therefore, some scholars call it the "holy grail of paleontology". Unfortunately, Manning, who came with excitement, did not see the true appearance of this "mummy" as he wished, because it is currently the hottest treasure, and scientists from all over the world who want to "meet" it have been lined up.
But Manning's trip was rewarding, and he met a fossil excavator who told Manning that thermopod footprints had been found in the wilderness southeast of North Dakota, indicating that it was a place where prehistoric dinosaurs were frequent.
After a 3-hour drive, they arrived at the slowest urbanization area in the United States and saw the fossil in the vast wilderness. The fossil is a rock more than 3 meters high, which stands straight in the wilderness, with tiny, deep animal paw prints on it.
The young man climbed nimbly to the rock, pointed to a concave arc, and said, "See? This is the footprint of the theropod dinosaur. Here's its middle toe, here's its toes on either side. ”
Manning lamented that this two-legged carnivorous dinosaur had strong claws, and tens of millions of years ago, they walked slowly on the soft surface and left footprints, becoming permanent scars on the hard mineral rock, as if they had not gone far. It is with the help of such footprint fossils that humans can know with certainty that the foot of theropod dinosaur has a grip function, and this structure was later inherited by birds.
So, the legendary dragon should also have claws like the foot dinosaur, right? Manning thought of the Chinese dragon. The Chinese dragon has the most vivid and complex images in the world, and the dragon's claws alone contain a profound hierarchical culture. Since the Zhou Dynasty, the application of dragon claws has been carefully defined: "Five-clawed Heavenly Son, Four-clawed Prince, and Three-clawed Doctor." ”
Amazing discoveries inside the University Gymnasium
Although he did not have the opportunity to meet the "dinosaur mummy", Manning did not leave the United States soon, but came to Utah in the United States. Utah was once a riverbed in ancient times, and the riverbed was rich in Jurassic dinosaur fossils, and ordinary museums could not accommodate it, so scientists almost all set their sights on the open Brigham Young University Gymnasium, and invariably moved the research room to the gymnasium.
As Manning walked into the gymnasium, several young scientists were carefully dissecting the rock with an electric drill. Manning was received by a scientist named Brookblett, who took Manning on a tour of the gymnasium.
Manning became interested in a tall dinosaur fossil in the exhibition hall, and Brett picked up a dinosaur skeleton that was much taller than him, as if holding a large black guitar, and told Manning that the giant bone belonged to sauropods. Sauropods were the largest of the terrestrial animals, reaching up to 40 meters in length.
However, Manning was more interested in how such a large sauropod dinosaur survived. Brett said: "When we first found it, we also speculated that they might live in water, but now we have found that although it is bulky and some vertebrae are more than two meters high, it is very light and hollow, which shows that it should be more adapted to air life." Brett's introduction made Manning's heart beat, and if such a "fat" sauropod could soar into the sky, then it would not be difficult for the dragon to drag its long body in the sky.
When Manning left the gymnasium, Brett told him that some new dinosaur fossils had been unearthed at the nearby Geological Institute of Montenegro that might help Manning.
The dragon in Manning's mind took shape quietly
At the Institute of Geology in Montenegro, Manning saw fossils of a Tyrannosaurus rex, named "Stan" by scientists. The Stan in front of Manning's eyes was obviously still underage, and his body shape was not yet up to the level of blazing. An adult Tyrannosaurus rex can be as long as 145 meters, up to 20 meters long, 5.5 meters tall, and weigh 7 tons, while Stan is just about 12 meters long, more than 3 meters tall, and the head is more than 1 meter long.
Manning noticed that Stan and the Brute Dragons he had seen at Brigham Young University looked a bit like twins, but the Brutes had stronger forelimbs and the Tyrannosaurus Rex's forefoots were weak. The appearance of such a delicate feature on the Tyrannosaurus rex is extremely incongruous, and the scientific community has not yet been able to give a reasonable explanation.
Petrason, a researcher at the Black Mountain Geological Research Institute, told Manning that the Tyrannosaurus rex was so large that many people thought it was slow to move, but it was not. The latest scientific research shows that it can run more than 40 kilometers per hour, is an absolute predatory animal, and with its large mouth, I am afraid that no animal can escape its pursuit. In particular, its thick and long tail is not only a powerful attack weapon, but also plays a role in balancing the body.
"This dinosaur may be able to help you." Larson pointed to a fossil on a wooden box. This is a fossil of a dinosaur maxilla, which is owned by the "Snake-haired Female Monster Dragon".
"Don't look at it as inconspicuous, even like a scaled-down version of the T-Rex, but it is extremely lethal." In particular, its mouth can be opened and closed up and down, or twisted left and right, and it can bite off the bones of other dinosaurs. If I were you, I would consider borrowing from the structure of this dinosaur. ”
Undoubtedly, it is also very close to the legendary dragon. Perhaps 200 years ago, Europeans mistook dinosaurs for dragons when they didn't know about them.
The dragon in Manning's mind has been quietly outlined: it has a wingspan of 10 meters of the Aeolian pterosaur, the strong claws of the animal-footed dinosaur, the mighty tail of the Tyrannosaurus rex and the mouth of the snake-haired female monster dragon ... But this is still just speculation. Manning decided that he would continue his search for calgary, Canada, which borders the United States, and perhaps he would be able to gain more and more tangible results from the local natives, who still live "alive" in their lives.
Archaeological finds of the Blackfoot Indians
In the Calgary region of central Alberta, Canada, lives a mysterious group of people who live in a tee tent made of spears, preserving the most primitive chieftaincy system, who will wear feathers on their heads, painted on their faces, dressed in clothes painted with mysterious symbols, and sing songs that we can't understand while stomping their feet briskly on the ground like a primitive witchcraft show. In fact, it was the aboriginal Indians who offered the "stomping dance" to their deity Innikin. People called them "black-footed Indians."
Innikin is what the Blackfoot Indians call dragons in their culture. This tribe has always insisted on the belief in dragons, because in their view, dragons do exist.
To learn more, Manning made a point of visiting the tribal chiefs of the Blackfoot Indians. He told Manning that they all respected the stories about dragons that had been passed down from generation to generation. The reason they stomp their feet is because of their understanding of dragons: when dragons appear in the world, the earth trembles with them.
The chief also told Manning that even among their tribe, in person, Innikin had been seen. This surprised Manning, who searched all the way and finally found the witness.
This is an old Indian man who enjoys a high reputation among the group. More than a decade ago, he said, during a hunt, he saw the shadow of an animal behind a huge rock: about 10 meters long, with a pair of wings and scales on his body. When he returned to God, there was nothing behind the rock, but he could still feel the ground shaking faintly.
Manning is somewhat skeptical, arguing that the so-called ground shaking may be a legendary fiction of the earthquake by the indigenous people, and that strange animal may also be their vague memory or recombination of a creature that once lived here.
In search of more scientific discoveries, Manning decided to visit the Tyrrell Museum, not far from here.
The Tyrrell Museum is known as the Royal Museum, and the young Kevin Kruger is a paleontologist at the museum, with extensive field work experience and outstanding "achievements" - he has excavated more than a dozen dinosaur fossils. After learning of Manning's intentions, he told Manning with practical experience that he could go to Alberta to investigate dinosaur fossils, which not only had a large fossil yield, but also was well preserved. It is worth mentioning that sometimes fossils can be found without the need for excavation, which lie on the surface of shallow mines, and archaeologists can simply pick them up and return them to the research room.
Such a statement gave Manning some enlightenment: it seems that it is common for black-footed Indians to retrieve well-preserved dinosaur fossils in ancient times. Perhaps they inadvertently discovered such a well-preserved fossil and regarded it as an animal that had not yet become extinct, and thus Innikin was born. But for this cultural phenomenon that could not be clearly explained by the local natives, Manning's investigation could only stop here.
The short dragon hunt apparently failed to yield scientifically acceptable results, but Manning pinned his hopes on ongoing archaeological activity around the world, hoping that one day when a new fossil of life was discovered, his inferences would be confirmed as reality. (Adapted from "Legendary World" Xiong Qiuxia/Wen)