Were These Monsters Inspired by Fossils? (w/ Monstrum!)

People have been discovering the traces and remains of prehistoric creatures for thousands of years. And they’ve also probably been telling stories about fantastic beasts since language became a thing. So, is it possible that the monsters that populate our myths and legends were influenced by the fossil record? 

Big thanks to these paleoartists for allowing us to use their wonderful illustrations:

Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:

Katie Fichtner, Anthony Callaghan, Jack Arbuckle, David Sewall, Anton Bryl, Ben Thorson, Andrey, MissyElliottSmith, The Scintillating Spencer, Zachary Spencer, Stefan Weber, Ilya Murashov, Robert Amling, Po Foon Kwong, Larry Wilson, Merri Snaidman, John Vanek, Neil H. Gray, Esmeralda Rupp-Spangle, Gregory Donovan, Gabriel Cortez, Marcus Lejon, Robert Arévalo
Robert Hill, Todd Dittman, Betsy Radley, PS, Philip Slingerland, Eric Vonk, Henrik Peteri, Jonathan Wright, Jon Monteiro, James Bording, Brad Nicholls, Miles Chaston, Michael McClellan, Jeff Graham, Maria Humphrey, Nathan Paskett, Connor Jensen, Daisuke Goto, Hubert Rady, Gregory Kintz, Tyson Cleary, Chandler Bass, Joao Ascensao, Tsee Lee, Alex Yan

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[Demongotoo]

If I have a gold mine and can't guard it 24/7 I'd make up stories about monsters in them too.

[TragoudistrosMPH]

Why were dragons in so many cultures??
Eons: Fossils?
History Channel: Dragons were real?

[littlesnowflakepunk]

Japan's water dragons being more likely to act in anger makes sense given the prevalence of typhoons and tsunamis.

[hisholiness]

Imagine being your average everyday Wooly Rhino, doing Wooly Rhino things, completely unaware of the fact that one day people will immortalize your remains as that of a Dragon, the most legendary of all creatures.

[chiseler]

"my queen, i have slain the fire-breathing dragon. look at the hardened burnt skull. pay me"

[JG-onwx]

I remember how I went to the beach as a small kid, maybe 8 years old, and searched for funny looking stones. I was also a huge dinosaur fan and I always dreamt of finding the remains of a creature that lived millions of years ago. And sometimes, I actually found little stones that didn't quite look like stones. I still have them, one of them looks like a layer of skin with scales, or the imprints of scales. I'm still not sure what exactly caused the weird structure, but when I found it, I felt like I had just discovered a miracle.
The excitement hasn't faded away. I recently started going to university, and I'm studying archeology. I love it.

[JuanHernandez-nlwo]

Whales' skulls might be the inspiration behind those sea monsters with tusks that appear sometimes in older maps of the world.

[marcustulliuscicero]

Fun fact: In China, what we call dinosaurs are called _kong long_, which translates to *terrifying dragon*


So while dragons might be inspired by dinosaur remains, to the Chinese dinosaur remains are certainly inspired by their ancient stories about dragons.

[PerryTrails]

Ancient Egypt was the home of the Amphiptere, a type of dragon that was a giant serpent with wings. It looks a lot like the whale fossils found in near Faiyum, which are actually pretty serpentine-looking. The front fins could have been seen as wings, and the head a does look a little bit like that of a giant snake.

[OlOleander]

I came back exhausted from one of my last days at this job, realized I'd already set up a cup of tea, and saw an Eons episode.
It's the small things, guys.

[Xagzan]

Everyone knows dragon myths were inspired by King Ghidorah coming down from space.

[DeathbyProxy]

That would explain now dragons in Chinese myths have feathers/fur, since fossils in China are often very well preserved and show integument

[cthulhufhtagn]

5:44 The world's most depressed looking _Protoceratops_ .

[manowlad]

Here in Brazil theres a legend about a creature called Mapinguari. Some say its appereance was based by giant sloth fossils

[JoshuaSeed]

A few years ago, maybe 1989, I was visiting new york city. I was walking on 6th avenue, which was congested with pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk. The crowd parted, and being young I darted for the opening thinking to get ahead a bit. I am 6'5" and was starkly skinny then. The crowd had parted for a beggar. He had a metal teapot for his cup and he shook it at me. He had one extra large eye, centered on his face, and a small vestigial one crowded out to it's right. His nose was like a stack of leaves, too many folds like his sinuses were exposed. He was taller than me. Maybe 6'8 or 6'10. I've never doubted where myths about cyclops, giants, ettins and other monsters come from. They are us.

[johnortmann]

""...spent all their time tending sheep." Shows picture of goats. 9:20

[whoareyou]

The first dragon I’ve seen was when I woke up in a wagon to “hey you there, you’re finally awake”

[ls]

When you're a deformed (human) being but people consider you as a mythical being.

Deformed being: "I see this as an absolute win."

[ArchFiendFolio]

I love the crossover on this episode. Well done ladies and your teams.

[marilu]

As a folklorist, I would love more videos like these! Thank you PBS Eons. I love this channel.