Fossil Of Two Headed Dragon Found

A fossil of a two-headed "dragon" has been found in China. Scientists believe it roamed the earth some 145 million years ago.




Interesting discovery. Maybe the numerous myths and stories about two-headed dragons are not science fiction after all?

You forgot to mention that it was caused by axial bifurcation. It's still a pretty interesting find, though I doubt people will accept this as the end-all, be-all of two-headed dragon myths.

Wow, that article seems to use the term "dragon" pretty loosely in my opinion. Also, after reading that the two heads were due to a mutation that is common in many reptiles, the story doesn't seem very sensational at all. It's not like this was a new species of two-headed animal that was found, rather it's just a mutation.

Id like to see an actual Photo and not an artist's rendition as it seems like alot of poetic license has been used with the Paleoworld in China. I saw a documentary on the so called feathered lizard which actually turned out to be a hoax.

an important detail which sensationalist press coverage has convienently overlooked is this creatures size [ < 7cm ] , and its age [ or more accuratly , maturity ] - the fossil would have been still born , or have died shortly after birth . as an adult , it should have grown to > 1m .

also , the rarity of the mutation which produces 2 headed reptiles should not be overlooked - as pointed out in another article , the instances of 2 headed snakes is amazingly rare . though thre are millions of snakes alive @ any one time

so given how rare fossilisation is , it is a remarkable find - kudos to its discoverers - and a to HELLMUTT for bringing it to ATS attention .

PS - up the artist impression really sucks and pisses me off .

though for once it seems quite accurate : my trusty new scientist subscription has a picture of the fossil



and here is an mature example of family Choristodera



the elongated neck may be a mutation too , but the ovesized head is a signiture trait of a hatchling .

Very interesting, but I'm leaning towards fake, because the heads seems way too big for a long neck, on that small body. Even if it was just a mutation, it would'nt have survived for long I would guess..

Thain: have you ever seen a crocodile hatchling? Its head is almost 1/3'd of its body.

This is a fossile of either a hatchling that didn't live long or a stillborn.

Also, 2 headed chickens, reptiles, snakes and such are indeed rare, but not non-existent, its a marvelous find but perfectly explainable in normal ways other then making it a "2 headed species".

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
also , the rarity of the mutation which produces 2 headed reptiles should not be overlooked - as pointed out in another article , the instances of 2 headed snakes is amazingly rare . though thre are millions of snakes alive @ any one time

Actually, it's not that rare. Herer's what the linked article says:

"This kind of abnormality occurs relatively frequently in modern reptiles such as turtles, crocodiles, lizards and snakes.

There are lots of 2 headed snakes to be found in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. My biologist husband tells me it's not that rare.

Originally posted by thematrix
Thain: have you ever seen a crocodile hatchling? Its head is almost 1/3'd of its body.

This is a fossile of either a hatchling that didn't live long or a stillborn.

Also, 2 headed chickens, reptiles, snakes and such are indeed rare, but not non-existent, its a marvelous find but perfectly explainable in normal ways other then making it a "2 headed species".

1/4 of its body is more correct, but that doesnt really matter since its head is not nearly as wide and big as the one shown on the dino-photos. On top of that, it doesn't have nearly as long a neck to hold up the head as the dino does.

It could be a still-born, I'm not ruling out that.

One thing is though, that since some dinosaurs are supposed to be ancestors of birds, it might have had a light skeleton. And if so, it might be very plausible anyway.

Yeah, two-headed anythings aren't as rare as people think.

And don't take "dragon" too litereally. The Chinese refer to dinosaur bones as "dragon" bones. Dragons are dinosaurs.

Originally posted by IrvingTheExplainer
Yeah, two-headed anythings aren't as rare as people think.

And don't take "dragon" too litereally. The Chinese refer to dinosaur bones as "dragon" bones. Dragons are dinosaurs.

Well, chinese writing of Dinosaur is 恐龙

"恐" : Means Terrible, frightening, etc
"龙" : Means Dragon.

The original Chinese article probably says a discovery of a "双头龙"

Which direct translation means "Two headed Dragon or Double Headed Dragon"

Just think that they use "龙' as a short form of "恐龙"

ok which one means dragon in chinese?

1.)

2.)

3.)

4.)

Season's Greets to everyone!

The word is "Lung" or "Long".

And btw this thread is odd. I mean, what, it could be a:

a) reptile with a growth.
b) reptile woth a mutation

And also, "Ooooo, a sketch, we are really gonna believe it now" comment is also fitting ((but unessosary)**i may hav e spelt that wrong, but...yeah)).

But still, this has a long way to go to get MY belief.

Originally posted by Dragonoligist Zac
The word is "Lung" or "Long".

And btw this thread is odd. I mean, what, it could be a:

a) reptile with a growth.
b) reptile woth a mutation

And also, "Ooooo, a sketch, we are really gonna believe it now" comment is also fitting ((but unessosary)**i may hav e spelt that wrong, but...yeah)).

But still, this has a long way to go to get MY belief.

Uh . . . it's already been determined that this is a mutated dinosaur fossil. Nobody's asking you to believe it's a dragon.

Which direct translation means "Two headed Dragon or Double Headed Dragon"

Double Dragon, eh?

Sorry. This is my first post here. I have been a long time reader. But, I agree that this is only just a genetic mishap. As is with many of the "human oddities".

Cheers.

Was going through the pages and came across this. I saw a two-headed tortoise (alive) in a museum in Geneva a few years ago. Both heads were fully functioning and were eating. The strangest thing about it was though that the eyes on the inside (so the right eye on the left head and the left eye on the right head) did not work, so neither head could see each other. Pretty creepy!

This is a genetic defect in reptiles, the name of which I cannot recall. This occurs in snakes, crocodilians, turtles, and other reptiles.

Apparently it occurs in dinosaurs, which shows how closely related they are to reptiles after all.


THR

I just looked at the photograpth quite far above this reply
And I have to say that it is definately a mutatiuon because the fossil is in the fetal posture - it is a baby that died soon after birth.
It has the typical large head and small baby so I think that it may even be a miscarrage. (but it is amazing that the odds of this strange creature being fossilised is less than 1 in a million)
Do not think that it is a fake or a hoax
- there is nothing hard to beleive about a mutated baby!