Why Don’t We Find Human And Dinosaur Fossils Together?

Why Don’t We Find Human And Dinosaur Fossils Together?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, July 16, 2025 (Donate) 

Introduction 

Biblical creationists believe that man and dinosaurs lived together in the past because God, a perfect eyewitness to history, said that He created man and land animals on Day 6 (Genesis 1:24-31). Dinosaurs are land animals, so logically; they were created on Day 6.  

Image from Presentation Library

Those who do not believe the plain reading of the Bible, such as many non-Christians and biblical compromisers, believe the bulk of rock and fossil layers represent billions of years of earth history. Because of this secularized worldview of long ages, they cannot have man and dinosaurs living at the same time. They reinterpret Scripture as well as earth features. 

Do Fossil Layers Represent Many Eons Of Time? 

No—they are primarily a result of a global Flood that was described by God in Genesis 6–8.  They represent rocks that were primarily made during the Flood over the course of about a year. Of course, there have been rock layers formed after the Flood in small doses from local catastrophes like volcanoes and local floods. 

Image from Presentation Library 

This belief about millions of years doesn’t come from the Bible but from sources outside the Bible—man’s ideas, specifically the religion of secular humanism. Rock layers that contain dinosaur fossils tend to be lower (deeper) than the layers with human fossils. Therefore, long age believers interpret this as dinosaurs dying out millions of years before humans appeared.    

Old earth proponents (those who mix secular origins with the Christianity) believe that if man and dinosaurs lived together, their fossils should be found in the same layers.   Since no one has found definitive evidence of humans and dinosaurs in the same layers (Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic), they say that humans and dinosaurs are separated by millions of years of time and, therefore, didn’t live together. 

So, Old earth proponents ask a very good question: Why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils if they lived together? 

We find human fossils and their remains in layers that most creationists largely consider post-Flood. Most of these are probably from burial since the Flood and the scattering of humanity from Babel. It is true that human and dinosaur fossils have yet to be found in the same layers, but does that mean that long age believers are correct when they state that dinosaurs died out millions of years before man came into existence? Let’s investigate this question further. 

Were All The Human Pre-Flood Remains Completely Obliterated So That No Evidence Will Be Left? 

This argument is derived from passages such as Genesis 6:7 and Genesis 7:23 where God says he will “blot out” man from the face of the earth using the Flood. However, it may not solve our problem completely. After a lengthy study, Fouts and Wise pointed out that the Hebrew wording for māhâ (machah) referring to “blot out” or “destroy” can and will still leave evidence behind. They say: 

“Although māhâ is properly translated “blot out”, “wipe”, or even “destroy”, it is not to be understood to refer to the complete obliteration of something without evidence remaining.  In every Biblical use of māhâ where it is possible to determine the fate of the blotted, wiped, or destroyed, the continued existence of something is terminated, but evidence may indeed remain of the previous existence and/or the blotting event itself.  Even the theological consideration of the “blotting out” of sin suggests that evidence usually remains (e.g. consequences, scars, sin nature, etc.)”[1] 

Animals were also to be blotted out (Genesis 6:7, 7:4), but we find their remains. In light of this, it is highly possible that human fossils from the Flood could still exist, but haven’t been found yet. 

But the real question is, should we find human fossils in layers that contain dinosaur fossils? To answer this further, we need to estimate how many humans there may have been before the Flood, the likelihood they would have been fossilized, their distribution, how much Flood sediment there was, and whether the remains would have been preserved or not. 

Pre-Flood Population 

Estimates for the pre-Flood population are based on very little information since Genesis 1 doesn’t give extensive family size and growth information. We know that Noah was in the tenth generation of his line and it was about 1650 years after creation. Genesis also indicates that in Noah’s lineage children were being born when their fathers were between the ages of 65 (Enoch to Methuselah) to well over 500 (Noah to his three sons).  

How many generations were there in other lineages? We don’t know. We know the line from Adam to Noah was living upwards of 900 years, but we can’t be certain everyone lived this long.  How often and how many children were born? We don’t know? What were the death rates? We don’t know. 

Despite this lack of information, some estimates have been done. Tom Pickett gives a range of about 5 to 17 billion people.[2] This is based on various population growth rates and generations of 16-22 prior to the Flood. Recall that Noah was in the 10^th generation, so this may be well beyond the higher end of the population maximum. The late Henry Morris had conservative estimates as low as 235 million people. He also calculated rates based on modern population growth, giving about 3 billion people.[3] 

John Morris reports estimates that there were about 350 million people pre-Flood.[4] Based on these estimates, pre-Flood populations may have ranged from hundreds of millions to 17 billion people.  

But there is another reality that needs to be factored in. The world before the Flood for 120 years, was extremely violent. So much so, that God decreed judgment. I’ve often said, that if only half of the world acted on this violent hate and committed a murder, they could have cut the population in half in one day! Even many children could have been destroyed by those being evil in that 120 years. 

Thus, I’ve always suspected the population to be very low. In 10 generations, with a slow rate of growth, and a grossly high murder rate for over a century, the population could literally be only a few thousand.   

Were All Humans Fossilized? 

During the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, the Associated Press reported that although many humans were killed during the catastrophe, surprisingly very few livestock animals were killed.[5] Based on this evidence, it is possible that land animals may have had a better chance of survival as the Flood began to devastate and overtake the coastlines than humans did. Many animals stay farther inland and humans tend to live on the coast.  

As sad as it was, the Tsunami of 2004 was a good example of the destructiveness of water—even though it was a relatively small flood. According to the United Nation’s Office of the Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, nearly 43,000 of the approximate 230,000 people that died, were never found—and we know exactly where they were lost.[6]  

Let’s do some rough calculations based on these numbers in order to get a general idea for the number of possible candidates for human fossilization during the Flood. What these numbers can tell us is that 187,000 bodies were found at or near the surface, hence not buried and would not have had the possibility of fossilization. The others (43,000) could have been missing at sea or possibly buried. Those few buried by sediment, would be the ones eligible for fossilization.  

Let’s be generous and assume all 43,000 were buried. This would give us a generous maximum of 18.7% of the Tsunami flood victims as possible candidates for fossilization.  Considering they were buried over an area of 55,440 square kilometers,[7] we might expect to find 0.77 bodies per square kilometer. This translates to about 2 bodies per square mile. With these odds, finding any of the missing people would be highly unlikely! Consider that a global Flood with a low population would be nearly impossible to find human fossils. 

Were All Humans Evenly Distributed In The Flood Sediment? 

We know humans have a tendency to live in groups like towns, villages, and cities and the surrounding area. People were probably not evenly distributed before the Flood.  Before the Flood, a city was recorded in Genesis 4:17 in the land of wandering (Nod).  In accordance with this, most of the population today, lives within 100 miles of the coastline. One report says: 

“Already nearly two-thirds of humanity—some 3.6 billion people—crowd along a coastline, or live with 150 kilometers of one.”[8] 

This is further confirmation that the pre-Flood civilizations probably were not evenly distributed either. If man wasn’t evenly distributed, then the likelihood of man being evenly distributed in Flood sediment becomes extremely remote.  

How Much Flood Sediment Is There?  

John Woodmorappe’s studies indicate that there are about 700 million cubic kilometers which translates to about 168 million cubic miles of Flood sediment.[9] This number actually comes from International Geology Review 24(11), Ronov, A.B. 1982, The Earth’s sedimentary shell, pages 1321-1339. 

John Morris states that there is about 350 million cubic miles of Flood sediment.[10] However, this number may be high since the total volume of water on the earth is estimated at about 332.5 million cubic miles according to the U.S. Geological Survey.[11] 

As mentioned prior to the Flood, it is likely that populations were not evenly distributed. However, for the sake of the argument, let’s assume it was to make the calculation reasonable. Let’s also use the smaller estimate of Flood sediment calculated by John Woodmorappe to be generous. Let’s also assume that all the fossils would have survived to the present.    

Let’s take Henry Morris’ maximum figure (3 billion people) and use the percentage we calculated from the Tsunami (18.7%) for the possible candidates for fossilization. 18.7% of the 3 billion yields about 560 million fossilized bodies. If we distribute these 560 million fossilized bodies evenly throughout the world’s Flood sediment, we get just over 3 human fossils per cubic mile (3.3 fossilized bodies per cubic mile). This would be like finding a needle in a haystack! 

But realistically, it was more like a few thousand people, and most of them were not buried but rather drown after clinging to floating debris for a time, floated, swam, rotted, decayed, etc. So, the realistic numbers would be more like finding a single needle buried somewhere in an entire state. 

What Do We Find In The Fossil Record? 

Since the Flood was a marine catastrophe, we would expect marine fossils to be dominant in the fossil record. When we look at the fossil record, we find: 

·       ~95% of all fossils are marine organisms

·       ~95% of the remaining 5%, are algae, plants/trees

·       ~95% of the remaining 0.25% consists of invertebrates including insects.

·       The remaining 0.0125% are vertebrates, mostly fish. [95% of land vertebrates consist of less than 1 bone and 95% of mammals’ fossils are from the Ice Age after the flood][12] 

Image from Presentation Library 

The Flood was a marine catastrophe that overtook the land. It makes logical sense that we would find many marine fossils on land. Also, vertebrates are not as common as other types of life forms. Therefore, we wouldn’t expect to find as many in the fossil record. This makes sense of these percentages and helps understand why vertebrates are poorly represented and even overwhelmed by marine organisms in the record. 

Let’s Think About The Original Question 

Often, people believe that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then they didn’t live together. Let’s think about it this way instead: If human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren’t buried together.  

A great example is that of the coelacanth. Coelacanth fossils are found in layers below dinosaurs and in layers that date about the “same age” as dinosaurs by secular reckoning.[13] It was thought the Coelacanth became extinct about 70 million years ago because their fossils are not found after this time.  

However, in 1938 living populations were found in the Indian Ocean![14] This example shows that the fossil record is not complete. It is not truly representative of living populations. Remember, we don’t find human bones buried with coelacanths (or crocodiles, rhinoceros, etc.) either, but we live together in this day and age. Regarding coelacanths, people are enjoying them for dinner in some parts of the world! This is but one of the many living fossils that illustrates this concept.  

Images from Presentation Library 

If we do not find humans and dinosaur fossils buried together, then it is still consistent with a biblical worldview—because we don’t expect to find humans and dinosaurs buried together. If human and dinosaur bones are found in the same geologic layers in the future, it would be consistent with the biblical view. 

In fact, it would be more of a problem for those who accept the geologic layers as evidence for millions of years. If the fossil layers really represented millions of years, then finding a human and dinosaur fossilized in the same layers would cause problems because in the old earth view, man wasn’t supposed to be that old, or dinosaurs that young.  

As biblical creationists, we don’t require that human and dinosaur fossils have to be found buried together.  Whether they are found together or not, does not affect the biblical view.  Fouts and Wise may very well be correct, the evidence left behind for humans before the Flood, may simply not have been found yet.  

But let’s not miss the obvious answer either. Humans and dinosaurs were likely not living together and thus not candidates to buried together. If there was a global Flood today (which will not happen due to the promises of God) what are the odds that a person and a rhinoceros would be buried together? The odds would be very low for hosts of reasons. 

There are good reasons we don’t expect to find humans and dinosaurs buried together. Not finding them together is not a big a deal to the biblical position. Much more could be discussed but this was meant as a short introduction to the subject.   

Originally here: https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/humans/why-dont-we-find-human-fossils-with-dinosaur-fossils/; Edited; Republished by permission.

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[1] David Fouts and Kurt Wise, Blotting our and breaking up: miscellaneous Hebrew Studies in Geocatastrophism, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Creationism, Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburg, PA, 1998, Page 219.

[2] Tom Pickett, Population of the PreFlood World, http://www.ldolphin.org/pickett.html Download date: 8/21/2006.

[3] Henry Morris, Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1970, page 77-78.

[4] John Morris, The Young Earth, Master Books, Eleventh Printing, May 2002, Page 71.

[5] Gemunu Amarasinghe, Tsunami kills few animals in Sri Lanka, Associated Press, December 30, 2004, http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/tsunami_wildlife_041230.html Download date: 8/25/2006.

[6] The Human Toll http://www.tsunamispecialenvoy.org/country/humantoll.asp Download date: June 6, 2006.

[7] Pieter Waalewijn and Daniel Renault, Human tragedy, more than physical damage, places Tsunami among worst water-related disasters ever, http://www.fao.org/tsunami/stories/spotlight1005.htm Download date: August 31, 2006.

[8] Don Hinrichsen, Our Common Seas: Coasts in Crisis, Earthscan / James & James Publishers, 1990; Populations pressure burdens oceans, June 10, 2010, https://www.bairdmaritime.com/shipping/populations-pressure-burdens-oceans.

[9] John Woodmorappe, Studies in Flood Geology, Institute for Creation Research 1999, p. 59.

[10] Ibid. (Ref 4)

[11] How Much Water is There on Earth?, U.S. Geological Survey, November 13, 2019, https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth.

[12] John Morris, The Young Earth, Master Books, Eleventh Printing, May 2002, p. 70; Andrew Snelling, Where are all the human fossils? Creation magazine 14(1):28-33, December, 1991.

[13] Lynn Dicks, The creatures time forgot, New Scientist, October 23, 1999; 164: (2209) page 36-39.

[14] Rebecca Driver, Sea monsters…more that a legend?, Creation magazine 19(4):38-42, September 1997, Found online here: http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i4/seamonsters.asp.

Dragons . . . Were They Real?

Dragons . . . Were They Real?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, July 14, 2025 (Donate) 

A Dodo Of An Introduction 

The dodo was a strange bird, and our understanding of its demise and extinction by 1662 is equally strange. The dodo was a flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It was easy to catch and provided meat to sailors. There were numerous written accounts, sketches, and descriptions of the bird from the 1500s through the 1600s.

Drawing by Sir Thomas Herbert of a cockatoo, red hen, and dodo in 1634. Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lophopsittacus.mauritianus.jpg. 

But when the dodo went extinct, no one seemed to notice. And a few years later, scientists began to promote the idea that the dodo was merely a myth. Just look at the evidence: 

1.     It was a very strange creature.

2.     No one could find them.

3.     They seemed to exist only in the old descriptions, accounts, and drawings! 

Had it not been for specimens popping up in the recesses of museum collections, and finally found brought to light, they could have been labeled simply as “myth” for as long as the earth endures! But in the nineteenth century, at last, there was vindication that the dodo was real and that it had merely gone extinct. Since then, fossils and other portions of specimens have been identified as dodo.  

Parallel To Dragons 

So what does this have to do with dragons? Consider the following points: 

1.     Dragons are very strange creatures.

2.     No one can find them.

3.     They seem to exist only in the old descriptions, accounts, and drawings! 

If we don’t know our history, are we doomed to repeat it? Sadly in recent times, secular scientists have relegated dragons to myths also. 

But unlike the dodo, which is just a particular type of bird, dragons are a large group of reptilian creatures. Moreover, we have descriptions, drawings, and accounts of dragons. Not just the handful like we have of the dodo but in massive numbers from all over the world! 

And many of these descriptions and accounts are very similar to creatures known by a different name: dinosaurs. We’ll consider this connection momentarily. 

Dragons In The Bible 

To settle this issue of the reality of dragons, let us turn to the Word of almighty God who knows all things. 

In each case in Table 1, the verses use the word Hebrew tannin, or its plural form tanninim, which was usually translated as “dragon(s).” In some cases, you might see the translation “serpent” or “monster.”[1] 

Table 1 (Bulletted): Dragons in the Bible[2] 

• Deuteronomy 32:33: Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
• Nehemiah 2:13: And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
• Job 7:12 (YLT): A sea-monster am I, or a dragon, That thou settest over me a guard?
• Psalm 74:13: Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
• Psalm 91:13: Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
• Psalm 148:7: Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
• Isaiah 27:1: In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
• Isaiah 51:9: Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
• Jeremiah 51:34: Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
• Lamentations 4:3 (GNV): Even the dragons draw out the breasts, and give suck to their young, but the daughter of my people is become cruel like the ostriches in the wilderness.[3]
• Ezekiel 29:3: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
• Ezekiel 32:2 (GNV): Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh King of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a lion of the nations and art as a dragon in the sea: thou castedst out thy rivers and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and stampedst in their rivers.
• Genesis 1:21 (YLT): And God prepareth the great monsters [dragons], and every living creature that is creeping, which the waters have teemed with, after their kind, and every fowl with wing, after its kind, and God seeth that it is good.[4]
• Exodus 7:9, 10, 12: When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent [dragon]. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent [dragon]. . . . For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents [dragons]: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.[5]

Consider also the scriptural references to “fiery serpents” or “fiery flying serpents,” “leviathan,” and “behemoth”: 

Table 2: Fiery Serpents, Leviathan, and Other Dragon-Like Creatures

Reference	Verse
Numbers 21:6, 8	And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. . . . And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Deuteronomy 8:15	Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Isaiah 14:29	Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Isaiah 30:6	The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
Job 41:1	Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
Psalms 74:14	Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
Psalms 104:26	There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
Isaiah 27:1	In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Job 40:15–24	Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

These creatures could rightly be lumped among dragons. Even Leviathan is called a dragon in Isaiah 27:1. 

Some have argued that the fiery flying serpents (and fiery serpents) were myth, but God clearly reveals them as real creatures, just as other creatures are real in the immediate context like scorpions, lions, vipers, donkeys, camels, and so on. 

Some have argued that fiery flying serpents were real but were just venomous snakes that would leap into the air. But that would render a portion of the Scriptures redundant, as the viper, which does that very thing, is mentioned immediately before it in Isaiah 30:6. Even today there is an insect from South America called the Bombardier Beetle that shoots out two chemicals that essentially ignite and superheat its victim. Leviathan was also a fire breather (Job 41:1–21). 

Some have suggested the behemoth as an elephant or a hippo, but neither the elephant or the hippo eat grass like an ox, nor do they have a tail that moves like a cedar. An elephant has a tail that moves like a weeping willow, and a hippo hardly has a tail! Some have argued that behemoth and leviathan were myth, but why does God speak of real creatures (lion, raven, donkey, wild ox, ostriches, horse, locust, hawk, and eagle) in the same context as the behemoth and leviathan (Job 38–41)? 

So, some of what we can learn from the Bible is as follows: (1) dragons were real creatures, and (2) the term “dragon” could include land, flying, or sea creatures. 

Dragons By Ancient Historians, Literature, And Classic Commentaries 

Dragons were viewed as real creatures by virtually all ancient writers who commented on them. While many references could be cited, consider these select accounts: 

1. “But according to accounts from Phrygia there are Drakones in Phrygia too, and these grow to a length of sixty feet.”[6] 

2. “Africa produces elephants, but it is India that produces the largest, as well as the dragon.”[7] 

3. “Even the Egyptians, whom we laugh at, deified animals solely on the score of some utility which they derived from them; for instance, the ibis, being a tall bird with stiff legs and along horny beak, destroys a great quantity of snakes: it protects Egypt from plague, by killing and eating the flying serpents that are brought from the Libyan desert by the south west wind, and so preventing them from harming the natives by their bite while alive and their stench when dead.”[8] 

4. “Among Egyptian birds, the variety of which is countless, the ibis is sacred, harmless, and beloved for the reason that by carrying the eggs of serpents to its nestlings for food it destroys and makes fewer of those destructive pests. These same birds meet winged armies of snakes which issue from the marches of Arabia, producing deadly poisons, before they leave their own lands.”[9] 

5. Gilgamesh, hero of an ancient Babylonian epic, killed a huge dragon named Khumbaba in a cedar forest.   

6. The epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf (ca. AD 495–583) tells how the title character of Scandinavia killed a monster named Grendel and its supposed mother, as well as a fiery flying serpent.   

7. “The dragon, when it eats fruit, swallows endive-juice; it has been seen in the act.”[10] 

Ancient historians and writers clearly believed creatures like dragons were real. They describe seeing them first hand—often in the context of other types of animals that still live today. Some historians even describe the fiery flying serpents as real creatures in regions near where Moses and Isaiah were and point out the winged nature of these flying serpents. Such things are a great confirmation of the biblical text. 

Interestingly, in the Beowulf account, the dragon called Grendel was known to have a heavy claw on its finger, yet had a fairly small arm. (Beowulf was famous for ripping the arm off of this dragon.) Correspondingly, we have a dinosaur with smaller arms (and its remains are found in Europe) called baryonyx, which literally means “heavy claw!” Its arms are actually smaller too! The common descriptions of Grendel and baryonyx are striking.  

Classic commentators often agreed that dragons were real and spoke of them as real, and these are just a small sample of the writings these expositors of Scripture have on the subject: 

1.     Dr. John Gill wrote, “Of these creatures, both land and sea dragons, see Gill on ‘Mic 1:8’; see Gill on ‘Mal 1:3’; Pliny says {l} the dragon has no poison in it; yet, as Dalechamp, in his notes on that writer observes, he in many places prescribes remedies against the bite of the dragon; but Heliodorus {m} expressly speaks of some archers, whose arrows were infected with the poison of dragons; and Leo Africanus {n} says, the Atlantic dragons are exceeding poisonous: and yet other writers {o} besides Pliny have asserted that they are free from poison. It seems the dragons of Greece are without, but not those of Africa and Arabia; and to these Moses has respect, as being well known to him.”[11]

2.     John Calvin stated, “Then he says, he has swallowed me like a dragon. {3} It is a comparison different from the former, but yet very suitable; for dragons are those who devour a whole animal; and this is what the Prophet means. Though these comparisons do not in everything agree, yet as to the main thing they are most appropriate, even to show that God suffered his people to be devoured, as though they had been exposed to the teeth of a lion or a bear, or as though they had been a prey to a dragon. ”[12] 

Even the artwork for John Calvin’s commentary for Genesis (when translated from Latin to English in A.D. 1578) included images of dragons such as this one on the upper right of the page:

 

 

 

3.     Charles Spurgeon, when speaking of London, said, “We are not sure that Nineveh and Babylon were as great as this metropolis, but they certainly might have rivaled it, and yet there is nothing left of it, and the dragon and the owl dwell in what was the very center of commerce and civilization.”[13]

4.     John Trapp stated, “Anger is a short madness; it is a leprosy breaking out of a burning, and renders a man unfit for civil society; for his unruly passions cause the climate where he lives to be like the torrid zone, too hot for any to live near him. The dog days continue with him all the year long; he rageth, and eateth firebrands, so that every man that will provide for his own safety must flee from him, as from a nettling, dangerous and unsociable creature, fit to live alone as dragons and wild beasts, or to be looked on only through a grate, as they; where, if they will do mischief, they may do it to themselves only.”[14]

5.     Church fathers, on Philip killing a dragon in Hierapolis, stated, “And as Philip was thus speaking, behold, also John entered into the city like one of their fellow-citizens; and moving about in the street, he asked: Who are these men, and why are they punished? And they say to him: It cannot be that thou art of our city, and askest about these men, who have wronged many: for they have shut up our gods, and by their magic have cut off both the serpents and the dragons.”[15]

There were numerous dragon slayers in history as well. Not to belabor the point, I’ve simply made a table of a few: 

Table 3: A Few Dragon Slayers and Capturers[16] 

	Slayer/Capturer	Approximate Date	Place
1	Martha of Tarascon	AD 48–70	Tarasque
2	Apostles Philip and Barnabas	Before AD 70	Hierapolis
3	St. George	AD 300	North Africa
4	St. Sylvester I	AD 300	Italy
5	Sigurd	Before AD 400–500?[17]	Northern Europe
6	Beowulf	AD 400–500	Denmark, Sweden
7	Tristan	AD 700?	British Isles

I could continue with hosts of other quotations from the church fathers who often spoke of dragons as real creatures, not questioning their reality. But the point is already made: people believed dragons were real. 

Dragons In Petroglyphs 

It would be nearly impossible to have an exhaustive listing of dragons on walls, pottery, textiles, petroglyphs, artwork, maps, books, and so on. Here are a few, and note that some of these dragons are very similar in form to our understanding of dinosaurs. 

Image from Presentation Library 

This famous petroglyph by the Anasazi natives looks strikingly like a sauropod dinosaur (i.e., dragon).[18] This petroglyph has stirred up controversy over the years—judge it as you may. 

 Image from Presentation Library

This dragon with back spines is reminiscent to a Kentrosaurus or Amarga but possibly a Lambeosaurus near Lake Superior in Canada. 

Image from Presentation Library 

This flying dragon was made by Native Americans in Utah. This one has also stirred up controversy—judge it as you may. 

 

Images by Ben Horton 

This relief in Angkor, Cambodia, is something akin to Stegosaurus-type of dragon.[19] 

 Ishtar Gate of Babylon in the British Museum; Photo by Bodie Hodge

Built by the order of King Nebuchadnezzar, the eighth gate of Babylon has aurochs (an extinct type of cattle) and a dragon alternating all the way up the gate. Since this dragon is a reptile (note the scales and tongue), it also has hips that raise the body off the ground; so, by definition it is also a dinosaur. 

 

Photos by Bodie Hodge 

Dragons in Peru adorn hosts of ancient pottery, rock ark, textiles, and so on. This pottery is from the ancient Moche Culture and is on display at the Museum of the Nation in Lima, Peru.[20] 

Dragons On Flags And Banners 

It is fairly well known that the Welsh flag endows a dragon. But few realize that this was not the only culture to have a dragon on its flag. These cultures clearly viewed dragons as real. 

 

Welsh Flag; Image from Presentation Library 

Royal Bavarian Flag; Pre-1918 

Imperial Chinese Flag; Pre-1912 

The famous Bayeux Tapestry that depicts the Norman invasion of England has numerous animals on it. Some are dragons. 

 Bayeux Tapestry, about 1,000 years old

Many other flags and banners could be added to this list, and diligent searches will turn up numerous ancient flags, banners, and emblems with such things. 

Have Dragons Been Relegated To Myths? 

It was not until the twentieth century that dragons were seen as myths. In 1890, a large flying dragon was killed in Arizona (in the United States), and samples were sent to universities back east. This was recorded in a newspaper under “A Strange Winged Monster Discovered and Killed on the Huachuca Desert,” The Tombstone Epitaph, on April 26, 1890. No one seemed to entertain the idea they were myths then.  

Even the 1902 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, while trying to explain away the accounts of sea dragons (“sea serpents”), concluded that they might still exist (as their numbers were few by this time): 

"It would thus appear that, while, with very few exceptions, all the so-called “sea serpents” can be explained by reference to some well-known animal or other natural object, there is still a residuum sufficient to prevent modern zoologist from denying the possibility that some such creature may after all exist."[21] 

Yet only eight years later, it was published that dragons were myth! In 1910, the Encyclopædia Britannica states the following: 

"Nor were these dragons anything but very real terrors, even in the imaginations of the learned until comparatively modern times. As the waste places were cleared, indeed, they withdrew farther from the haunts of men, and in Europe their last lurking-places were the inaccessible heights of the Alps, where they lingered till Jacques Balmain set the fashion which has finally relegated them to the realm of myth."[22] 

This was only about 100 years ago that the dragon first began being relegated to a mythical status. Apparently, since Jacques Balmain couldn’t find one, they were deemed myth. Perhaps the idea that they went extinct was too much to consider. 

Though this idea of dragons being myth still defied Encyclopædia Britannica’s claim even into the 1920s. They were not to eager to make such bold claims. In 1927 one dictionary consulted still viewed dragons as real but rare:  

"A huge serpent or snake (now rare); a fabulous monster variously represented, generally as a huge winged reptile with crested head and terrible claws, and often as spouting fire; in the Bible, a large serpent a crocodile, a great marine animal, or a jackal."[23] 

But it makes sense as more people spread out and settled in more lands, the dragons were pushed to the brink of extinction. Many old accounts of dragons had them living underground particularly near swamps (e.g., Beowulf). As man develops areas, those habitats are destroyed. But just like the dodo, when you can’t find them any longer, they are suddenly considered “myth” instead of being seen as extinct. 

Sadly, this also influenced Christians and subsequently modern translations rarely use the word dragon in the Old Testament, due, in my opinion, to these secular influences.  

Dragons And Their Relation To “Dinosaurs” 

Dragons include land, sea, and water reptiles. Though dragons in old forms of classification also denoted snakes, dinosaurs are more specific. 

Dinosaurs are land reptiles that (by definition) have one of two kinds of hip structures that allow the creature to naturally raise itself off the ground.[24] In other words, crocodiles, komodo dragons, alligators, and so on are not seen as dinosaurs since their hip structures have their legs coming out to the side so the belly naturally rests on the ground. But neither would flying reptiles like pterodactyls or water reptiles like plesiosaurs be dinosaurs by definition either. 

So all dinosaurs are dragons, but not all dragons are dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and other land dragons were made on Day Six (Genesis 1:24–31). Flying dragons and sea dragons were made on Day Five (Genesis 1:20–23). 

It is important to realize that the word dinosaur did not exist until the year 1841. Sir Richard Owen invented the term “dinosaur,” and it means “terrifying” or “terrible” lizard. Maybe the controversy could have been avoided if they just called dinosaur bones “dragon” bones. 

But this means dinosaurs were created and lived the same time as man and went aboard the Ark of Noah (Genesis 6:20). Those that did not go aboard died. Many likely rotted and decayed, and others were rapidly buried by sediment from the Flood, making them candidates for fossilization. Hence, we find many of these dragon bones (e.g., dinosaur bones) in rock layers from the Flood. Dinosaurs came off the Ark and have been dying out ever since. 

One dinosaur resembles a dragon so much that they named it after a dragon from a movie series—Dracorex Hogwartsia. 

Reasons For Extinction? 

So why did dragons (e.g., dinosaurs) die out? The simple answer is sin. When Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3) death came into the world. Living things began to die, and many things began to die out—dragons as well as dodos were no exception.  

Some specific reasons for their extinction likely include changing environments (e.g., the ice age that followed the Flood, the destruction of swamp lands by man, and so on), predation by man (cf. Genesis 10:9), diseases, genetic problems, catastrophic events, etc.[25] Keep in mind that most dragon legends end with a dragon getting killed. 

Like the dodo, man could have been a major factor why dragons no longer survive, as far as we know. The possibility exists that some still live in remote parts of the world or underground and only come out at certain times. This was quite common with old dragon accounts. 

However, it is unlikely that we will find any living ones, in the same way that it is unlikely that we will find passenger pigeons, dodos, and many other things that have been pushed to extinction.  

Conclusion: Dragons In Relation To Satan 

There is much to be said about dragons, and this short chapter is just a taste. Dragons, including the specific subset of dinosaurs, were real creatures and have simply died out due to sin, just like so many other animals including the dodo. The land-dwelling, air-breathing dragons survived on the Ark of Noah, and they have been dying out ever since (Genesis 6:20; 7:21–22). 

Many were surely timid creatures (especially since they are known to have inhabited old ruins), but others were known to terrorize according to the old accounts of dragons. And when such conflicts arose, a dragon usually ended up dead by someone who could overcome it. Such conquerors were remembered in history with a powerful and strong name. 

But such vicious attacks could well be the reason that Satan is metaphorically called a “dragon” in Scripture (e.g., Revelation 12:3); also consider Satan’s use of a serpent in Genesis 3:1 to deceive Eve and ultimately get Adam to bring sin and death into the world (Romans 5:12). 

Satan’s vicious attacks leave many helpless (e.g., 2 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Peter 5:8). But Christ, the “stronger man” in Luke 11:21–22, has conquered Satan (Hebrews 2:14) and has an eternal name above all names (Philippians 2:9). For in Christ, one can have the victory over Satan, the great dragon (1 Corinthians 15:57). 

With this in mind, it is good to realize the big picture. Satan wants people to accept the idea that dragons were myth as this is simply another attack on the authority of God’s Word. Satan wants us doubt God’s Word the same way he attacked Eve using a serpent in the Garden of Eden to doubt His Word (Genesis 3:1–6; 2 Corinthians 2:11). 

Were dragons a myth or did they simply die out? It’s time to trust God’s Word over the fallible ideas of man, who was not there and not in a position of superseding God on the subject (Isaiah 2:22). Of course, dragons were real. 

Originally here: https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/were-dragons-real/; Edited; Republished by permission.

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[1] There is also the word tannim (plural of tan), which sounds quite similar to tannin in Hebrew. Many previous translators viewed these creatures as dragons, too for over 2000 years. But some scholars today suggest these are separate and that tannim should be translated as jackals even though there is already another Hebrew word for jackal used in Scripture (שׂועל‎, shual). For more information see Bodie Hodge, Dinosaurs, Dragons and the Bible, Chapter 20, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2023.

[2] All references are taken from the KJV except where noted.

[3] Some have thought this word for dragons is a copyist mistake in that tannin should be tannim and may represent another animal type (e.g., jackal). But there is no textual support for this. The argument is that reptiles today do not suckle their young. However, we know so little about extinct dragons that we can’t say definitely if they suckled or not. Even some mammals were thought to only give birth to live young until we found the platypus and spiny anteaters that lay eggs, so we need to avoid making “blanket statements” about creature types based only on what we know today. We simply do not know all things about extinct creatures, and if Lamentations 4:3 does refer to dragons (or dragons of a specific type), then we would know that some did suckle.

[4] Though the word here is not translated as dragon it is still the same word used of dragon elsewhere and could and likely should have been used here as well.

[5] The Hebrew word translated “serpent(s)” is tannin (plural tanninim), which is typically translated “dragon.” Most translate this as serpent or snake since a staff is similar in shape to a snake (i.e., serpents being a specific form of dragon). Other ancient translations render this as dragon, including the Latin Vulgate (only in v. 12), and the Greek Septuagint.

[6] Aelian (ca. AD 220), De Natura Animalium.

[7] Pliny (ca. AD 70), Natural History.

[8] Marcus Tullius Cicero (ca. 45 BC), De Natura Deorum, I, 36.

[9] Ammianus Marcellius (ca. AD 380), Res  Gestae, 22, 15:25-26a.

[10] Aristotle, Historia Animalium, http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=AriHian.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=9&division=div2 (accessed June 14, 2013).

[11] John Gill, Commentary notes Deuteronomy 32:33.

[12] John Calvin, Commentary notes Jeremiah 51:34.

[13] C. H. Spurgeon, “A Basket Of Summer Fruit” (sermon, Exeter Hall, London, England, October 28, 1860).

[14] John Trapp, Complete Commentary, s.v. Proverbs 22:24,  (http://www.studylight.org/com/jtc/view.cgi?bk=19&ch=22 (accessed June 14, 2013).

[15] The Acts of Philip, Of the Journeyings of Philip the Apostle: From the Fifteenth Acts Until the End, and Among Them the Martyrdom, http://archive.org/stream/apocryphalgospel00edin/apocryphalgospel00edin_djvu.txt (accessed June 14, 2013).

[16] Bibliography for this table includes The Golden Legend, various texts of the church fathers, Encyclopædia Britannica, Beowulf, Volsunga Saga, and several others.

[17] Although the more complete account of Sigurd and the dragon is discussed in the thirteenth century document called Volsunga Saga, Sigurd is mentioned in the Beowulf account, so it must have preceded it.   

[18] I. Abrahams, “Feedback: Kachina Bridge Dinosaur Petroglyph,” Answers in Genesis, March 18, 2011.  

[19] K. E. Cole, “Evidence of Dinosaurs at Angkor,” Answers in Genesis, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/01/15/evidence-dinosaurs-angkor.

[20] Bodie Hodge, “The Dragons of Peru,” Answers, September 14, 2010, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/07/dragons-of-peru.html.

[21] William Evans Hoyle, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed. s.v. “Sea-Serpent” (New York, NY: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, 1902), http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/S/SEA/sea-serpent.html.

[22] Walter Alison Phillips, The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11^th ed. (New York, NY: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, 1910), 8:467.

[23] The New Century Dictionary (New York, NY: P.F. Collier & Son Corporation, New York, 1948), p. 456. 

[24] P. S. Taylor, “Dinosaur!,” Films for Christ, http://www.christiananswers.net/dinosaurs/dinodef.html.

[25] Ken Ham, gen. ed., New Answers Book 1 (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2006), pp. 207–219.