The Last Living Dragon

“He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” [Revelation 20:2]

Flying dragons are prominent in many legends and stories from around the world. Often there is a kernel of truth in legends, and this appears to be the case with flying dragons. Paleontologists have found amazing fossil evidence all over the globe of giant flying reptiles called pterosaurs, or “winged lizards.” Pterosaurs were flying reptiles, some with a wingspan of around 40 feet. That’s about the size of a small Cessna airplane! They appear to be the largest flying animals that ever lived on Earth. The biggest of the pterosaurs weighed around 550 pounds. By comparison, the heaviest flying bird alive today, a kori bustard, is only 44 pounds. The bones of a pterosaur were lightly built and hollow to aid with flight.

Pterosaurs often had necks as long as 10 feet and legs as tall as seven feet. To someone watching from the ground, the long legs trailing behind a flying pterosaur might have looked like a dragon’s pointed tail. Pterosaurs also had large brains and eyes, with a long, thin beak and toothless jaws. On their heads were bony crests, which some believe acted as a rudder in flight. Other scientists have surmised that the hollow chambers in the skull could have contained chemicals like the bombardier beetle that sprayed a fiery liquid from their mouths. We can’t tell from the bones, but it is even possible that some of these extinct dragons were red.

Some of these creatures may have survived the flood. In the 5th century B.C. the Greek historian Herodotus wrote about “winged serpents” living in Arabia. But the Bible tells us that at least one dragon still exists today – the dragon also known as “the Devil and Satan” (Revelation 20:2). While some people believe that the devil is just a religious legend, the Bible makes it quite clear that he not only exists, but seeks to “deceive the whole world” and destroy those “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:9,17). But the devil is not left unchecked, nor will he prevail. After being bound for a thousand years, he too will become extinct: “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone” (Revelation 20:10).