[The dragons of Komodo Island by Robert Doolan] "A civil administrator found 'mythical' creatures living on a tiny Indonesian island. Could such creatures ever have evolved?

The reports sounded fanciful. Local farmers and fishermen told stories of huge reptiles up to eight metres (26 feet) long living in the dense jungles of a few tiny Indonesian islands.

Some pearl divers said they shot several monsters which were close to this length. These giant reptiles allegedly could kill a wild pig or deer with a few rapid swipes of their tail. But even more unbelievable were the claims that these 'dragons' arose from deep under the ground, and that some lived in the trees. Naturalists dismissed the stories as imaginative nonsense.

It wasn't until 1910, when the civil administrator on one of Indonesia's islands, Lieutenant van Steyn van Hensbrock, obtained specimens of the 'dragons' from the island of Komodo, that the outside world began receiving credible confirmation of the existence of these creatures.
Specimens of these 'Komodo dragons' were sent for study to the zoo on the nearby island of Java. Most of the earlier details, which had been thought to be fantastic, turned out to be true.

Investigation of the creatures over subsequent years revealed some amazing characteristics. Komodo dragons bury their eggs as deep as nine metres (30 feet) underground. The mother lays up to 30 huge eggs at a time. When the young dragons hatch, they begin their long journey up to the surface of the ground, then they climb trees—where they live the early portion of their lives.

These characteristics parallel two legendary traits attributed to 'mythical' dragons—their reputation for living inside the Earth, and their ability to fly. These qualities led two authors to comment: 'They cannot spit fire, of course, but no one who has seen a Komodo Dragon can be in any doubt that such legendary beasts (or something like them) could once have existed.'

Many historians believe that the famous depictions of Chinese dragons were modeled after creatures like the Komodo dragon because its long, forked, yellow-orange tongue looked like wisps of fire...

It is conceivable that creatures like Komodo dragons, or even some similar-looking types of dinosaurs, were the models for Chinese dragon portrayals. But what is more certain is that there is no indisputable evidence that reptiles, the larger scientific category to which Komodo dragons belong, have evolved from non-reptiles. This makes the alternative explanation—that all groups of reptiles were created by God—the most credible option...

EVOLUTION PROBLEMS

While the alleged evolution of Komodo dragons and other monitors seems fanciful, it should be kept in mind that the supposed evolution of reptiles from amphibians is even more difficult for the theory of evolution to explain..."  Full text:  The dragons of Komodo Island by Robert Doolan http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v17/n1/dragons

Response to comment [from a Christian]:  "Komodo dragons are just big monitor lizards."

Nevertheless, the dragon legends (e.g. fiery yellow tongue) may have come from Komodo dragons or dinosaurs:  "Outside of the Bible, ancient peoples around the world told of heroes who killed large, reptilian creatures. These accounts are almost as numerous as flood legends. The ancient Europeans, for example, called these monsters “dragons.” They appear in art, literature, and folklore..."  Full text:  Dinosaurs—Alive After Babel? http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/dinosaurs-alive-after-babel

Response to comment [from a "Christian"]:  "Liar"

Hark, fair Juliet speaks.

"My sperm cells are mine (Gamera)."

"Since I am not Gamera, liar, what is your point?"

Why do you argue just like Gamera and now Taikoo? What facts am I to extract from "liar"?

The dragons of Komodo Island