There is no scientific direct link between dinosaurs and the Chinese cultural symbol of the dragon, although many link them, Dr. Xu Xing said in an interview.
Paleontologist Xu Xing is one of the world's leading dinosaur researchers and professor at the Main Laboratory for the Study of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Strictly speaking, the dragon has nothing to do with dinosaurs, but indeed in China, a lot of people believe that the dragon and dinosaurs are related to each other, and that is why they are engaged in the study of dinosaurs,” Xu Xing said.
The scientist explained that this mythical creature consists of eight different animals, and in the process of formation, it slowly mutated. The modern description of the Chinese dragon is a collective image of a camel, deer, demon, snake, carp, eagle, tiger and cow.
“The dragon we all know now is not exactly the one that was at the very beginning. Be that as it may, the dragon occupies a very important place in the culture of China, because the Chinese consider themselves to be the descendants of the dragon. In the process of studying dinosaurs, we are also faced with this question, can their study help us understand the origins of Chinese culture? But speaking in facts, from the point of view of science, these two phenomena have no connection,”Xu Xing emphasized.
The only possible connection, which the scientist made, is that many people are accustomed to consider the dinosaur "super animal" and the dragon a kind of "super dinosaur".