A baby dragon, or a bad joke?

Electronic Telegraph ^ | 24/01/2004 | Roger Highfield, Science Editor

[aculeus]

A pickled "dragon" that looks as if it might once have flown around Hogwarts has been found in a garage in Oxfordshire.

Yesterday the baby dragon, in a sealed 30in jar, was in the office of Allistair Mitchell, who runs a marketing company in Oxford. He was asked to investigate by his friend, David Hart, from Sutton Courtenay, who discovered it.

A metal tin found with the dragon contained paperwork in old-fashioned German of the 1890s. Mr Mitchell speculates that German scientists may have attempted to use the dragon to hoax their English counterparts in the 1890s, when rivalry between the countries was intense.

"At the time, scientists were the equivalent of today's pop stars. It would have been a great propaganda coup for the Germans if it had come off.

"I've shown the photos to someone from Oxford University and he thought it was amazing. Obviously he could not say if it was real and wanted to do a biopsy."

The documents suggest that the Natural History Museum turned the dragon away, possibly because they suspected it was a trick, and sent it to be destroyed. But it appears a porter intercepted the jar and took it home. The papers suggest the porter may have been Frederick Hart - David Hart's grandfather.

Mr Mitchell said: "The dragon is flawless, from the tiny teeth to the umbilical cord. It could be made from indiarubber, because Germany was the world's leading manufacturer of it at the time, or it could be made of wax. It has to be fake. No one has ever proved scientifically that dragons exist. But everyone who sees it immediately asks, 'Is it real?' "

Yesterday the Natural History Museum said that it was interested in following up the find.

The scientific journal Nature once carried a tongue-in-cheek article on the ecology of dragons written by Lord May, who became the science adviser to the Prime Minister and is now the president of the Royal Society.

From the reported sightings, Lord May concluded that dragons are "both omnivorous and voracious", with great variations in diet: one made do with two sheep every day while another, kept by Pope St Sylvester, consumed 6,000 people daily. Their lifespan seems to range between 1,000 and 10,000 years.

Some scientists believe that dragons, though the product of imagination, were inspired by the extraordinary creatures that once roamed the Earth. As J K Rowling's alter ego Hermione Granger once suggested, legends have a basis in fact.

[templar]

oh my god!!! is it real?

Obviously. Whether it is a real dragon or a real fake dragon remains in question though.

[katana]

Nice fake! It certainly looks as good or better than the prop used in "Alien Autopsy". Somebody should remove it from the jar and try to determine how, when, and by whom it was made.

[tdadams]

Good point, it would have almost certainly been hatched in an egg, thus no umbilical cord. But if it's a hoax, someone did a really good job of creating a fake dragon, especially consider the time - 1890s - when it was thought to have been made.

[hattend]

A Baby Dragon = an English version of a Jackalope.

[aculeus]

I hate it when stories like this have no photo's. I know it's not your fault.

The Telegraph had a photo a few days ago but it's not there now. See number 6 for the picture they deleted.

[RightWhale]

embryonic chicks have umbilical cords

True, but the mystery is how the dragon has both wings and forearms. Not of the animal kingdom.

[BibChr]

You don't need me to tell you which is the scarier picture.

(c;

[ravingnutter]

At the time, scientists were the equivalent of today's pop stars.

The majority of scientists I know still believe they are. One in particular is so obnoxious that I told my boss it is everything I can do to put on the brakes when I see him cross the parking lot, we have threatened to give another a "swishy" (putting them head first in the toilet and flush the stool), LOL!

[eastforker]

So, it must be a demon then. One wonders how ancient sculptors and artist depicted demons and such.Then again, they also depicted UFO's and such, go figure.

[aculeus]

I don't think dragons would have umbilical cords but hey, what do I know about mythical creatures.

Note the neat hands, complete with thumbs.

[null and void]

Remarkable!

[Redcloak]

Your remarks, sir, are an insult to Piltdown Man, Nessie, and Crop Circles.

[Indie]

someone did a really good job of creating a fake dragon, especially consider the time - 1890s - when it was thought to have been made.

Far out. Possible conclusions:

1. If made in 1890, it's real.
2. If made after, a gifted "artist" created it.

My guess? Fake, else the owner would be tripping over themselves to get it to a scientist or lab for their own curiosity, which has not happened. Nor would an organic being have been preserved in such a pristine state in an above ground, unprotected, evaporating solution of anything for 100 years.
Fake fake fake. Move along before it comes to life and reproduces since dragons are supposed to live forever according to the song.

BWA HAHAHA!!

[null and void]

True, but the mystery is how the dragon has both wings and forearms. Not of the animal kingdom.

Yes, a wyvern is a far more probable creature...

[baseballfanjm]

:-(

It's not just pickled! It's my friend! :-(

[Redcloak]

But seriously...

It is interesting to note that most cultures have stories of dragons or are familiar with the concept of such creatures.

[aruanan]

True, but the mystery is how the dragon has both wings and forearms. Not of the animal kingdom.

It was something that happened with a hox gene. The hox gene is indispensable for the invertebrate body plan (Evolutionary biology: Hox genes drive insect body plan, www.nature.com/nature/links/020221/020221-1.html). hox C gene clusters are also required for the mouse body plan (Dev Biol. 2000 Apr 15; 220(2): 333-42). We all know how close a mouse is to a shrewlike insectivore and that a shrewlike insectivore was antecedent to the bat, so why not something reptilian/avian with a throwback to a six appendage ancestor?

[aculeus]

http://www.cropcirclecereal.com/

[philosofy123]

The one on left is prettier.

[Teacher317]

Nice... even if fake, I'd love to buy one. Who's going to market them next year?