An Instinct for Dragons - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

TIL that in the work, An Instinct for Dragons, an anthropologist argues that the universality of dragons across human societies is due to evolutionary reasons, with common primate predators being merged into a hybrid monster.

    • randomsnark@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      The linked article mentions that one of the predator types merged into the dragon is raptors (as in birds of prey, not velociraptors)

    • Fondots@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      TL;DR- dragons are what happen when you mash together big cats, big snakes, and big birds of prey

    • GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      They’re big and scary enough today, and in the past they were even bigger and scarier.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast's_eagle

      Relationship with humans

      Some believe that these birds are described in many legends of the Māori mythology, under the names pouākai, Hakawai (or Hōkioi in the North Island).[52][53] According to an account given to Sir George Grey—an early governor of New Zealand—Hōkioi were huge black-and-white birds with yellow-green tinged wings and a red crest. In Māori mythology, Pouākai would prey and kill humans along with moa,[54][55][56] which scientists believe could have been possible if the name relates to the eagle, given the massive size and strength of the bird.[52][57] However, it has also been argued that the “hakawai” and “hōkioi” legends refer to the Austral snipe—in particular the extinct South Island species.[58]

      For context, Haast’s eagle was about twice the size of today’s Harpy eagle, which itself looks like it came out of a nightmare. See photos at https://www.demilked.com/giant-bird-harpy-eagle/

      • Bourff@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        It was endemic to New Zealand, which was first inhabitated much too late for this bird to become the common trope that dragons have been in many cultures.