Editing Dragon (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Bone of Wawel Dragon.JPG|thumb|Several bones purported to belong to the [[Wawel Dragon]] hang outside [[Wawel Cathedral]], but actually belong to a [[Pleistocene]] mammal.]]
Draconic creatures appear in virtually all cultures around the globe,{{sfn|Malone|2012|page=96}} and the earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes. Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the [[ancient Near East]] and appear in [[art of Mesopotamia|ancient Mesopotamian art]] and literature. Stories about [[weather god|storm gods]] slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Near Eastern and [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Indo-European]] mythologies. Famous prototypical draconic creatures include the ''[[mušḫuššu]]'' of ancient [[Mesopotamia]]; [[Apep]] in [[Egyptian mythology]]; [[Vritra|Vṛtra]] in the ''[[Rigveda]]''; the [[Leviathan]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]]; [[Big Ghoul|Grand'Goule]] in the [[Poitou]] region in [[France]]; [[Python (mythology)|Python]], [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]], [[wyvern]] and the [[Lernaean Hydra]] in [[Greek mythology]]; [[Kulshedra]] in [[Albanian folk beliefs|Albanian mythology]]; [[Unhcegila]] in [[Lakota mythology]]; [[Quetzalcoatl]] in [[Aztecs|Aztec culture]]; [[Jörmungandr]], [[Níðhöggr]], and [[Fafnir]] in [[Norse mythology]]; [[the dragon (Beowulf)|the dragon]] from ''[[Beowulf]]''; and aži and az in ancient Persian mythology, closely related to another mythological figure, called Aži Dahaka or [[Zahhak]].

Nonetheless, scholars dispute where the idea of a dragon originates from,{{sfn|Malone|2012|page=98}} and a wide variety of hypotheses have been proposed.{{sfn|Malone|2012|page=98}}

In his book ''[[An Instinct for Dragons]]'' (2000), anthropologist David E. Jones suggests a hypothesis that humans, like [[monkey]]s, have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes, [[Big cat|large cats]], and [[Bird of prey|birds of prey]].{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=32-40}} He cites a study which found that approximately 39 people in a hundred are afraid of snakes{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=63}} and notes that fear of snakes is especially prominent in children, even in areas where snakes are rare.{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=63}} The earliest attested dragons all resemble snakes or have snakelike attributes.{{sfn|Jones|2000|pages=166–168}} Jones therefore concludes that dragons appear in nearly all cultures because humans have an innate fear of snakes and other animals that were major predators of humans' primate ancestors.{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=32}} Dragons are usually said to reside in "dark caves, deep pools, wild mountain reaches, sea bottoms, haunted forests", all places which would have been fraught with danger for early human ancestors.{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=108}}

In her book ''The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times'' (2000), [[Adrienne Mayor]] argues that some stories of dragons may have been inspired by ancient discoveries of fossils belonging to [[dinosaur]]s and other prehistoric animals.{{sfn|Mayor|2000|pages=xiii–xxii}} She argues that the dragon lore of northern India may have been inspired by "observations of oversized, extraordinary bones in the fossilbeds of the [[Siwalik Hills]] below the [[Himalayas]]"{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=xxii}} and that ancient Greek artistic depictions of the [[Cetus (mythology)|Monster of Troy]] may have been influenced by fossils of ''[[Samotherium]]'', an extinct species of giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean region.{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=xxii}} In China, a region where fossils of large prehistoric animals are common, these remains are frequently identified as "dragon bones"{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=xix}} and are commonly used in [[traditional Chinese medicine]].{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=xix}} Mayor, however, is careful to point out that not all stories of dragons and giants are inspired by fossils{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=xix}} and notes that Scandinavia has many stories of dragons and sea monsters, but has long "been considered barren of large fossils."{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=xix}} In one of her later books, she states that, "Many dragon images around the world were based on folk knowledge or exaggerations of living reptiles, such as [[Komodo dragon]]s, [[Gila monster]]s, [[iguana]]s, [[alligator]]s, or, in California, [[Elgaria|alligator lizards]], though this still fails to account for the Scandinavian legends, as no such animals (historical or otherwise) have ever been found in this region."{{sfn|Mayor|2005|page=149}}

Robert Blust in ''The Origin of Dragons'' (2000) argues that, like many other creations of traditional cultures, dragons are largely explicable as products of a convergence of rational pre-scientific speculation about the world of real events. In this case, the event is the natural mechanism governing rainfall and drought, with particular attention paid to the phenomenon of the rainbow.<ref>Blust, Robert. "The Origin of Dragons". ''Anthropos'', vol. 95, no. 2, 2000, pp. 519–536. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/40465957. Accessed 6 June 2020.</ref>