In the year 1842, Sir Richard Owen coined the name “dinosaur” to describe a group of giant, ancient reptiles. It was a time that the scientific community was setting out to disprove outdated notions of creation myths and legendary beasts, and he believed he was scientifically categorizing creatures that were mistaken as mythical creatures for thousands of years…but what if he was wrong?

Ever since human beings began writing down accounts of their travels to faraway lands, there have been accounts of giant reptiles. Travelers sailed across uncharted waters and plunged deep through the endless forests and desert wastes. When at last they found refuge in the towns and villages along their trade route, they spoke grand tales of their wanderings. They spoke of the Behemoth, the Leviathon, and of course, the great dragons, wyverns, and wyrms that terrorized the great wilderness that covered so much of our small world.

How could we doubt the word of these brave travelers, for they saw these great beasts with their own eyes? Perhaps they even had one of the great bones, or could point brave souls towards the great trackways of the fearsome beasts.

Even in recent years, with the discovery of more bones with the wonders of modern techniques…how can we fail to see the obvious?

See below, a life reconstruction of Dracorex hogwartsia, the “Dragon king of Hogwarts”. It appears to be a classic Wyvern. See the array of horns on its head that can only be from beasts of legend, for no natural animal is so decorated. No direct fossil evidence of wings are known, but it is simply a case of more fossils are needed.

Similarly impressive are the great horns and crests of the heavy, quadrupedal monsters modern scientists call ceratopsians. These are none other than the great Drakes. Quadrupedal, wingless, and sporting terrible horns upon their great heads. The creature below frequently haunts lava fields, and its fiery breath melts the rock it trod upon. It is unknown if the vicious spines are filled with venom, as few adventurers ever dared to approach the creature. Perhaps this is where the legends of stinging tails originate from? Or it is more likely that these accounts refer to the heavily armored ankylosaur group.

Even more compelling is the creature known as Yi qi, a mystery in the scientific community and clearly a fierce wyvern to any who know of these majestic creatures. After this profound epiphany, I can no longer draw dinosaurs. I must always paint dragons in all their fiery glory from this moment forward. I will be updating all prehistoric creatures on the website in order to best reconstruct their legendary natures.

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Have a fun-filled April Fools Day! Really this post was just an excuse to draw a couple of fantastical dragon dinos, so I figured April 1st was a good time to do it. My husband showed me a real post on this subject, and it’s hilarious, so if you’re interested you can check it out. “The Myth of Dinosaurs the Reality of Dragons”

Come back tomorrow for the Critter of the Month! 🙂