Romanian Dragon Predates Dracula 60 Million Years

In Romania, tales of massive creatures taking down ancient man and swooping down breathing fire have been told over campfires for centuries.  Perhaps those who originally told the tales of ancient dragons were building their stories based on the discovery of bones such as the Balaur Bondoc.  Though Vlad Dracul may have earned a reputation as an incredible threat to Romania, Balaur Bondoc held the entire archipelago in fear for millions of years.

Balaur Bondoc, the creature that roamed Romania eighty million years ago has been put together by researchers thanks to fossils of bone found in the region.  The creature will be added to Romania’s long list of dinosaurs discovered that existed in the cretaceous period.  The creature is currently thought to have been the largest creature to have hunted in the area, and mounted the top of the food chain.

The Balaur Bondoc’s name mean’s stocky dragon in Romanian, the country’s language of origin.  Balaur Bondoc has now, after over a century of research of the region been officially declared as the most powerful creature to take down prey in the region.  Bones of the creature that have been discovered include spine, leg, hip, arms, ribs, and tails, finally creating a mostly complete skeleton giving a first glimpse into what the predator likely looked like while alive.  

Though the creature may have originally looked more like a velociraptor, paleontologists reassure us that the creature would have been far heavier, able to charge and knock over prey with its sheer might rather than depending on dexterity and cunning.  The creature may have trod through the archipelago islands making up cretaceous Romania evolving with the reality that it was the largest creature in its food chain.  Its feet had two massive claws each, twice the number that western velociraptors such as the utahraptor would have had..  

The creature allegedly used its feet as disemboweling tools, causing incredible damage to its shredded victims.  It would then use these claws to rip flesh and eat it.  The incredible power of this creature was far greater than several of today’s horses.  The incredible might and power of this dinosaur helped it achieve the pinnacle of Romania’s food chain, though it was a mere dwarf when compared to the incredibly large creatures a mere couple thousand miles away.  It was the barrier of water that would allow it temporary supremacy in the region.

The discovery of a new dinosaur species always reminds us that there is an incredible amount of discovery still to be made beneath the Earth’s soil and rocks.  With each new revelation about life sixty million years ago we are painted a more interesting and diverse picture of a reality where only the strongest would survive.  This reality of this incredible evolution shows how differently an ecosystem can develop in one location from another.  And over time that ecosystem would eventually merge with others creating a whole new game of survival.