Hehe, who is not a "dragon"?

Author: Black-scaled Cockscomb Snake Former senior science lecturer at Wuhan Natural History Museum, scientific consultant for CCTV-9 documentary channel

This year is the Year of the Dragon in the lunar calendar. When people mention animals with the word "dragon" in their names, their first reaction is often dinosaurs. The images of these long-vanished behemoths symbolize mankind's endless yearning and imagination for the mysterious ancient Earth.

Source: pexels

However, the dragons in myths and legends have many impressive features. On our ancient earth, there once lived many creatures with "dragon" in their names. Some of their features coincide with those of the legendary dragons. Let's take stock of them below:

1 Flying Dragon in the Sky

The legendary dragon can ride on the clouds and fly in the sky.

Source: Wikipedia

Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates with powered flight on Earth. As early as the Late Triassic period 228 million years ago, the earliest pterosaurs were already flying in the sky.

Forest Pterosaur specimen

Source: Wikipedia

The smallest pterosaur known to date is a hermit forest pterosaur that lived in western Liaoning, China in the Early Cretaceous. It had a wingspan of only 25 cm, not much bigger than a sparrow. However, some members of the Mystic Pterosauridae in the Late Cretaceous, such as Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx, were true giants with wingspans of more than 10 meters, flying like a small airplane.

Wing structure diagram of pterosaurs, bats, and birds

Source: Wikipedia

The wings of pterosaurs are made of membranes, just like those of bats today, and supported by the fourth phalanx of the extremely elongated forelimbs. However, their wing membranes are much stronger than those of bats, with multiple layers of tightly arranged fibrous tissue and muscles, and are very tough. Even if they are unfortunately pierced, as long as the wound is not too large, it will not seriously affect their flying ability.

Airbag

Source: Wikipedia

Early pterosaurs had a long tail and a mouth full of sharp teeth, but later pterosaurs lost their teeth and long tail to reduce their weight and facilitate flying. Some large pterosaurs even evolved extremely strong forelimbs, allowing them to rely on the power of their forelimbs to launch themselves directly from the ground like a pole vault. Some pterosaurs even evolved air sacs inside the wing membrane that were connected to the lungs and hollow bones, which not only improved their breathing efficiency but also greatly enhanced their flying ability.

2 Hidden Dragon in the Deep

The legendary dragon can stir up the wind and waves and swim freely in the sea. Many ancient marine reptiles are also called "dragons", among which the most prosperous and famous are three "families": the oldest is the ichthyosaur order, which appeared earlier than pterosaurs and dinosaurs.

Ichthyosaur fossils in the Wiesbaden Museum Source: Wikipedia

As early as the Early Triassic period 2.5 years ago, they were already cruising in warm shallow seas, and soon after entering the ocean, they evolved into the giant Sasternosauridae, the largest member of which was more than 20 meters long (fossils of Sasternosauridae have been unearthed in Guanling, Guizhou and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in my country).

Image source: Wikipedia

In the long evolutionary history that followed, ichthyosaurs gradually evolved to adapt more and more to life in the ocean: their bodies gradually changed from slender eel-like to compact and lean, their limbs evolved into fins, they had a triangular dorsal fin on their backs, and their tails also evolved into crescent-shaped caudal fins, which were very similar to dolphins and sharks that were suitable for high-speed swimming in the ocean. Some ichthyosaurs also evolved huge eyes to find prey in the dark deep sea, and some ichthyosaurs evolved four nostrils like existing bony fish, which may have a keen sense of smell like sharks underwater. The second largest "family" is the fin dragon order, which is a "distant relative" of the existing turtles and tortoises. The most prosperous and well-known one under it is the plesiosaur order, which has evolved in a convergent manner with fish in terms of morphology.

Plesiosauria

Source: Wikipedia

Unlike ichthyosaurs that are adapted to high-speed swimming, plesiosaurs relied on four flippers to provide power to "fly up and down" underwater. Their swimming style was closer to that of existing sea lions, penguins and turtles. Although they could not compete with the later and more evolved ichthyosaurs in terms of straight-line speed, they had higher maneuverability and were good at turning quickly and flexibly in a small space.

Elasmosaurus

Source: Wikipedia

Some members, such as the Elasmosaurus, evolved small heads and extremely long necks, which enabled them to hide their huge bodies in deep water when hunting, rely on their long necks to quietly approach schools of fish, and then quickly bite their prey with their staggered sharp teeth.

Restoration of the Extreme Swimming Dragon

Source: Wikipedia

Living in the icy waters near Antarctica, the massive polar swimmer may have been a filter feeder like the modern gray whale, turning over sediments on the seafloor and filtering out small invertebrates with its slender, outward-tilted teeth.

Platyrrhineus

Source: Wikipedia

The ferocious pliosaurs were top predators like large sharks and killer whales. Some members had huge heads and large, sharp teeth like crocodiles, and could prey on large prey such as turtles, ichthyosaurs and other plesiosaurs.

The Turonian extinction event of the Late Cretaceous wiped out the ichthyosaur family and severely damaged the plesiosaurs. In addition, the rising sea level formed a large number of rich, warm shallow seas, which allowed the third "family" of "dragons" in the sea: the mosasaur family, to seize control of the ocean.

Three Mosasaur skeletons

Source: Wikipedia

Mosasauroidae are close relatives of existing snakes and monitor lizards. When they first entered the ocean, they were very small, such as the Dallasaurus which was only one meter long. However, they soon evolved into many giants with a length of more than 10 meters. The largest of them, the Hoffmann's Mosasaur, could be more than 15 meters long and weigh more than 10 tons.

The skeleton of Mosasaur Hoffmann at the Natural History Museum Maastricht

Source: Wikipedia

Many mosasaurs evolved a downward-slanted tail fin, that is, the upper lobe of the tail fin was short and the lower lobe was long, just like the tail of an existing shark turned upside down. It is speculated that their swimming posture was similar to that of a shark.

Spherodon teeth

Source: Wikipedia

Some mosasaurs, such as Flat-palm Dragon and Pannoniosaurus, could enter fresh water, while others, such as the big-eyed Phosphasaurus, were agile predators at night or in the deep sea. The huge mosasaurs (such as the aforementioned Hoffmann's Mosasaur), Mosasaurus and Incisodon were "big eaters" as terrible as the pliosaurs, eating almost everything from turtles, sharks, pterosaurs to other mosasaurs. The blunt-toothed Spherodon only loved to "eat melon seeds" and feed on hard-shelled mollusks and crustaceans.

3Dragon Scale Bodyguard

The dragons in myths and legends have huge "scales" that are like majestic "armor". Among dinosaurs, there are many guys with "armor". Armored dinosaurs are a type of ornithischian dinosaurs that feed on plants. As the name suggests, many members of this family are covered with various kinds of armor.

Source: Wikipedia

Stegosaurus, such as the familiar Stegosaurus, has two rows of strange-shaped bone plates on its back. The function of these bone plates is still controversial in the academic community. They may be used for display or to regulate body temperature. The real weapon of Stegosaurus is their tail, which has sharp tail spines. They can swing violently like a mace to resist enemies. Some species (such as my country's Gigantosaurus and Huayangsaurus) also have huge spines on their shoulders to prevent enemies from attacking from the side.

Source: Wikipedia

Ankylosaurs are another type of armored dinosaur that we are more familiar with. Their heads and backs are covered with "armor" formed by a large number of thick, protruding bone plates. Some members have huge bony spurs on their shoulders, necks and sides of their bodies. Some, such as the Euoplocephalus, even have bone plates protecting their eyelids. They can be said to be "armed to the teeth."

Source: Wikipedia

Members of the Ankylosaur family also have a large hammer-shaped bone ball at the end of their tails, which can be used to defend against competitors and predators. These "armor" and "weapons" are formed by specialized osteoderms, and some existing reptiles, such as crocodiles, also have "armor" formed by osteoderms on their backs.

4Dragon Roar

Dragons in myths and legends can roar like thunder. The dinosaur family also had powerful "voice-makers". What did dinosaurs sound like? This is a question that has long puzzled paleontologists.

Source: Wikipedia

Studies on the inner ear structure of Tyrannosaurus Rex show that they are very sensitive to low-frequency sounds. Therefore, the real Tyrannosaurus Rex may not make a high-pitched roar like in movies such as "Jurassic Park", but it is more likely to make a low sound like existing crocodiles and some birds, and some of the sound range may even be too low for human ears to detect. The long crown on the head of Parasaurolophus has complex hollow tubes inside. Paleontologists speculate that they can rely on these tubes to make high-frequency calls like a trombone to communicate with their own kind. A type of ankylosaur called painted dragon has a complex throat cartilage structure like birds, indicating that they may also be able to make more complex calls.

5Carving dragons and painting phoenixes

Another question that has long puzzled scientists in the field of paleontology is: What color were dinosaurs?

In the past, we could only imagine the color and pattern of dinosaurs based on existing reptiles, birds or mammals. However, with the development of research technology, paleontologists can finally rely on real evidence to infer and restore the body color of dinosaurs and other ancient reptiles.

The color of most animals' body surfaces comes from the pigment cells in their skin, scales, hair and feathers. By scanning a few particularly well-preserved dinosaur and other ancient fossils with an electron microscope, and comparing the shapes of the remaining pigment cell traces with the pigment cells of existing birds and other animals, we can restore the body color of these ancient creatures more accurately.

Anchiornis

Source: Wikipedia

For example, the Anchiornis that lived in western Liaoning, my country during the Late Jurassic was speculated to have gray-black feathers on its body, possibly a reddish-brown crest on its head, and black and white stripes on its limbs.

Sinosauropteryx

The feathers of Microraptor were metallic black, somewhat similar to those of living crows; the feathers on the back of Sinosauropteryx were reddish brown or chestnut, the belly was lighter in color, and the tail had alternating dark and light rings;

Source: Wikipedia

The Ankylosaur suborder, the Northern Shield Dragon, was covered in reddish-brown armor, while the Psittacosaurus had dark patches on its face, shoulders, and around its cloaca, and long hairs on its hips and tail.

Ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs in the ocean have the same counter-camouflaging protective coloration as many existing marine animals, with darker body color on the back and lighter body color on the belly, which makes it easier for them to hide in the ocean.

6 The Dragon is not seen from the head

The Mesozoic Era is also known as the "Age of Dinosaurs" and the "Age of Reptiles". From the time they appeared on the stage of Earth's life history in the Triassic period more than 200 million years ago to the Cretaceous mass extinction caused by an asteroid that hit near the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico today 66 million years ago, dinosaurs and other ancient reptiles have always been the most eye-catching and imaginative prehistoric "monsters".

Since the first dinosaur fossil was discovered by humans in the 17th century, there are currently more than 900 genera and more than 1,000 species of dinosaurs known.

However, due to the harsh conditions for the formation and preservation of ancient biological fossils, what paleontologists have learned is only the tip of the iceberg of the prehistoric world. There are still countless fossils buried deep in the strata, waiting to be discovered by humans.

And this is the charm of paleontology.