For a long time, scientists have argued whether dragons were real-life animals or were they just mythological creatures invented by people, but they did not come to a consensus on this matter. But there was a theory that suggests that dragons really existed, and perhaps they still exist today.
The first mentions of dragons date back to the ancient Sumerian culture, which arose about 5000 years ago. Then dragons were described as amazing creatures that did not look like any animal, but at the same time bore similarities with many of them, for example, a dragon could have a dog's paws, a lion's head and bird wings.
Not so long ago, around the 60s, there were reports in the world press about one dragon of our time. They call him Sirrush. Reports of its appearance came from various parts of the world: from Scotland and Ireland, Norway and Sweden, Africa and other places. Although the first mentions of him date back to an earlier period.
The year 1887 can be considered the beginning of this story. It was then that the German professor Robert Koldewey arrived at the excavations of Ancient Babylon. Then he found a fragment of an old brick covered with bright blue glaze, on one side of which was depicted a fragment of an amazing animal that interested him very much.
Only after 10 years Kolvedey was able to return to the excavations and continued to study the mysterious bricks. The administration of the Royal Museum in Berlin became interested in its opening. They invited Colvedeus to continue his research. So in 1899, the excavations of Babylonia began under the leadership of Kolvedey. And already in 1902, the gates of the queen Ishtar appeared again. They were built of the same blue glazed bricks as the one Kolvedey found on his first expedition.
Even dilapidated, the gate of Queen Ishar amazed with its grandeur. But what the scientists were most interested in was that they were decorated with repeating images of two animals. One of them looked like a tour, and the other looked like a dragon. It is called the Babylonian dragon, in some sources it is referred to as Sirrush.
Sirrush's image is very realistic: a narrow long body covered with scales, a long neck ending in a serpentine head, which was decorated with a straight horn, a thin scaly tail. A long tongue, forked at the end, protrudes from the closed mouth. The front legs are similar to those of a panther, and the hind ones are birdlike.
If the image of the Babylonian dragon had been unearthed 100 years earlier, then it would have been mistaken for the image of some mythical character, but by the beginning of the 20th century, scientists had sufficient knowledge in the field of paleontology, which allowed Sirrush to be considered a completely real animal. In addition, it is known that the Babylonians did not have any knowledge in this area, so the image of Sirrush can be either an exact copy of something known to them, or a figment of the imagination that completely coincided with reality, which is hardly possible.
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The only thing that confused scientists was that the dragon's front legs resembled the limbs of felines. Despite this, scientists attributed it to the order of lizardmen, but later Koldewey, trying to find the similarity of Sirrush with any of the known lizards, came to the conclusion that the animal, if it existed, should have been classified as an avian dinosaur.
Modern science is also inclined to believe that Sirrush is a very real animal, most likely a dinosaur or some other large reptile.
Then the question arises: could a large reptile survive and remain unexplored?
Zoologists say that if she could survive somewhere, it would be in similar African climatic conditions. The only places where dinosaurs might go unnoticed is Central Africa, the rainforest region and the Congo Basin. Since these areas have not yet been sufficiently explored, unexplored animal species could remain there. And perhaps species that have become extinct throughout the rest of the continent could remain.
Another fact in favor of this theory: dinosaurs and other large reptiles became extinct about 60 million years ago due to geological changes, but Central Africa turned out to be geologically stable, not subject to cataclysms since the Cretaceous period and underwent only minor climatic changes.
Everyone knows that dragons are mythical creatures. But it is worth noting such a detail - legends about dragons pass through the millennia, but they undoubtedly have the same details.
If we consider all the myths about dragons, we will see that in some of them dragons act as winged lizards, in others - as reptiles that rule over rivers. But dinosaurs can be described in the same way. In addition, it should be noted that dinosaur remains have been found in large numbers in East Africa, and it may well be that somewhere these ancient animals could have survived and exist to this day.
In order to draw any conclusions, we will give a few more examples from history.
In 1912, the German scientist Schomburgk received new confirmation that there may be a species of lizards that has survived to the present day. During an expedition to Africa, the aborigines told him that there is an animal in the swamps, which, being smaller in size than hippos, nevertheless kills and eats them. Perhaps this animal is an amphibian, as it leaves no tracks. Some scientists have suggested that it is a lizard.
An expedition was sent to Lake Bangweulu, where this mysterious beast was observed, but she did not even manage to find this lake. Despite this, Schomburgk was still convinced that the reptile existed and was of great interest to science. Based on his personal observations and on the stories of the aborigines, he managed to interest the members of the German Eastern Society with his discovery, and they decided to investigate in more detail the regions of Central Africa, which at that time was a German colony, in order to study the fauna of these mysterious places.
Already in 1913, the German government sent an expedition to Cameroon under the leadership of Captain Freyer von Stein with the task of conducting a general survey of the colony. Soon he brought information about the creature, which was very much feared by the natives in some areas of the territory of the Congo River. The stories about him came not only from superstitious natives, but from experienced guides who did not even know each other.
From their stories, it could be concluded that there are several individuals of this animal, which lives only at great depths (the animal was shown only in those areas where the depth of the Congo reached about 10 meters), does not live in small rivers.
According to the descriptions of local residents, the animal has a gray-brown color, smooth skin, it has a small head on a very long neck, decorated with a long horn, although some claimed that it was a tooth. The animal also had a long tail like an alligator. It is approximately the size of an elephant, at least not inferior to a hippo.
In search of food, the creature sometimes comes ashore, feeds exclusively on vegetation. They showed the plant that the animal eats, and even the path that it paved in search of food, but there were too many paths trodden by elephants and rhinos around, so there was no way to distinguish traces of this mysterious creature.
The natives reported that the animal was seen on a non-navigable section of the Sanga River, but this section of the river could not be explored due to the short duration of the expedition. If not for this circumstance, then Baron von Stein, perhaps, could find an amazing animal.
In 1923, a book was published by the famous naturalist and anthropologist writer Frank Melland. In it, the author mentions a previously unexplored animal that lived in some areas of the Congo River, causing superstitious horror among local residents. The author has collected various rumors about a mysterious creature called "congamato".
According to the stories of the aborigines, it looks like a huge lizard with webbed wings like a bat. The wingspan reaches from 120 to 215 cm. The skin is smooth, without feathers and hair, the beak is equipped with sharp teeth. According to the natives, "kongamato" is an evil spirit. He flips boats, it is better to meet a hungry lion than to see him, and every person who sees the "Kongomato" on the same day must die.
Residents said the animal was very bat-like, but even the largest bats in the area did not reach that size. The scientist suggested that this is one of the types of pterosaurs.
The idea that one of the pterosaurs could exist until recently does not contradict modern paleontology, since excavations have shown that the remains of most of these flying dinosaurs were found in the Jurassic, less often in Cretaceous sediments, although according to the official version, they became extinct 70 million years ago …
Melland was not the only one who had heard of a pterodactyl in the flesh.
In the early 1920s, the traveler Steini also explored the Jiundu swamps and also heard stories about "kongamato" from local residents.
Their stories almost completely repeated the description given by the aborigines from the Congo River. According to their description, "kongamato" looks like a bat, only with a beak like a bird and teeth like an animal. The body is free of feathers and scales, the skin is smooth reddish and slightly shone. The beast made dull, abrupt sounds.
The only difference in these stories is the color of the animal. Although it is possible some aborigines, considering it an aggressive and dangerous creature, subconsciously try to make it look more frightening. The dark-skinned considered the "congomato" a normal animal, only much more dangerous than a boa constrictor or a rhino.
Let's give another example of the appearance of a similar animal. This time he was seen in Cameroon, West Africa. Research scientist Ivan Sanderson camped in the Alzumbo Mountains. While hunting, he managed to shoot a rather large bat that fell into the river. Trying to get her out of the water, he heard the cry of his assistant, who warned him of danger.
Then Sanderson saw an animal that looked like a bat, black in color and the size of an eagle, which dived right at him. He also managed to make out a drooping lower jaw with a semicircle of sharp teeth. The scientist disappeared under water, and when he surfaced, the animal had already left.
The next day, this incomprehensible creature returned again. But it was already attacking the scientist's assistant. Having become interested in the mysterious animal, the researchers began to ask local residents about it. The natives were reluctant to talk about this creature, calling him "olityau", and when they learned that he had been seen near the camp, they rushed to their village in horror.
Sanderson did not comment on these events in any way. He only noted that the animal resembles a bat in appearance, but it is clear that it does not belong to any of the species, since it differs from them both in size, and in color, and in behavior. In addition, ordinary bats are peaceful creatures, they feed on fruits, so it is impossible to explain the aboriginal fear of "olityau".
If we compare all the facts, then probably these stories describe the same creature. The only difference is the color of the animal, but the natives could deliberately change it to give the animal a more sinister look.
By the way, if we assume that the Congomato and Olityau belong to the same species, then perhaps it will become clear why these animals dive at people who have crossed their territory and overturn boats, although this is not typical of bats.
Another confirmation that the dinosaur still exists is a book written in 1942 by Colonel Pitman. In it, he talks about a mythical animal, which is credited with mystical power, but the most interesting thing in this story is that the descriptions of this animal are strangely similar to the description of a prehistoric pterodactyl. Curious about this issue, Pitman offered the aborigines a drawing of a pterodactyl, and they confidently said that this image was an exact copy of the animal they saw in the swamps.
Even our contemporaries observed an amazing animal. In 1981, an expedition was sent to the interior regions of Zaire to confirm or deny the events of 1876, when scientists noticed an animal that resembled a herbivorous dinosaur in appearance.
Unfortunately, the researchers have not received any documentary evidence of the existence of the lizard. But they felt their canoe swaying on the waves coming from some large animal that had just gone under the water. It could not be an elephant, because usually elephants do not go completely under the water, nor a crocodile, since the wave from it would be insignificant. But that's just a guess. However, one of the members of this expedition - Marselin Anyanya - became interested in this phenomenon, in 1983 he arrived in Zaire with his own expedition, which bore fruit.
Several days passed in fruitless searches, but one day, in front of the travelers, a creature with a wide back, a long neck and a small head rose from the water. It clearly did not belong to any of the previously studied species. Unfortunately, due to surprise, scientists did not have time to make documentary evidence of this phenomenon and the animal again disappeared into the water.
There is still a lot of evidence that there are species of animals that are either not studied or are considered extinct, with some evidence dating back to the present time. So, perhaps we will hear more about dinosaurs living in the 21st century.
Pleshakov Sergey