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Dinosaurs for Dummies                                  Richard Dawkins                                                   More To Life

Built on Rock ! Exploring Answers to Questions about Life, The Universe & Everything

How about a bit of Dinosaur History then. Here is an account of a Dragon Hunt (a real life Dinosaur Hunt) taken from our History.

What follows are the writings of Lucius Flavius Philostratus, a Greek sophist. He wrote about the life and travels of Apollonius.

Appolonius of Tyana pictured here was born in 15 AD and died 100 AD.



What about the Dinosaurs?

Initially this may seem rather an odd statement to make but before you throw this idea away as nonsense why not consider the following:-





There is much more historical evidence and interesting facts about Dinosaurs on our companion website

Dinosaurs for Dummies”.


Did Dinosaurs and Man coexist? A Dinosaur Hunt from our History Books! Intrigued to know more? In a  Nutshell

History records many encounters between Dinosaurs and Man.


'Now as they descended the mountain, they say they came in for a dragon hunt, which I must needs describe. For it is utterly absurd for those who are amateurs of hare-hunting to spin yarns about the hare as to how it is caught or ought to be caught, and yet that we should omit to describe a chase as bold as it is wonderful, and in which the sage (Apollonius) was careful to assist; so I have written the following account of it: The whole of India is girt (full) with dragons of enormous size; for not only the marshes are full of them, but the mountains as well, and there is not a single ridge without one. Now the marsh kind are sluggish in their habits and are thirty cubits long, (45 feet) and they have no crest standing up on their heads, but in this respect resemble the she-dragons. Their backs however are very black, with fewer scales on them than the other kinds; and Homer has described them with deeper insight than have most poets, for he says that the dragon that lived hard by the spring in Aulis had a tawny back; but other poets declare that the congener of this one in the grove of Nemea also had a crest, a feature which we could not verify in regard to the marsh dragons.



And the dragons along the foothills and the mountain crests make their way into the plains after their quarry, and prey upon all the creatures in the marshes; for indeed they reach an extreme length, and move faster than the swiftest rivers, so that nothing escapes them. These actually have a crest, of moderate extent and height when they are young; but as they reach their full size, it grows with them and extends to a considerable height, at which time also they turn red and get serrated backs. This kind also have beards, and lift their necks on high, while their scales glitter like silver; and the pupils of their eyes consist of a fiery stone, and they say that this has an uncanny power for many secret purposes. The plain specimen falls the prize of the hunters whenever it draws upon itself an elephant; for the destruction of both creatures is the result, and those who capture the dragons are rewarded by getting the eyes and skin and teeth. In most respects they resemble the largest swine, but they are slighter in build and flexible, and they have teeth as sharp and indestructible as those of the largest fishes.'

That account does not read like a Greek Myth. If you got David Attenborough to narrate it most would believe it without hesitation.


Dinosaurs for Dummies