Upon reading the title, I know you have probably already decided that I am a conspiracy-driven, theorizing dinosaur nerd with way too much time on her hands. Only part of that is true. I love dinosaurs, who could disagree? I also love a good dragon-slaying, which could be disagreed with, depending on your personal definition of animal cruelty. I would like to propose that our scaly predecessors may have more in common with dragons than you might want to think.

A dragon, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “a mythical monster, represented as a huge and terrible reptile, usually combining ophidian and crocodilian structure, with strong claws, like a beast or bird of prey, and a scaly skin; it is generally represented with wings, and sometimes as breathing out fire. The heraldic dragon combines reptilian and mammalian form with the addition of wings.”