Reptilian humanoid

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Reptilian humanoid

(Snakepeople, Reptiloids, Draconians, lizardmen, Lizard People, Saurians, Dragonoids)
model of a hypothetical dinosauroid, Dinosaur Museum, Dorchester

Reptilian humanoids are a common motif in mythology, folklore, science fiction, fantasy, conspiracy theories, and cryptozoology and ufology. Depending on context they are known by many names, including Snakepeople, Reptoids, Dinosauroids, Lizardfolk, Lizard People, Lizardmen, or, in the context of conspiracy theories, Anunnaki.

Mythology

Reptilian humanoids of varying depictions have appeared in the myths and legends of various cultures.

Europe

Cecrops I, the mythical first King of Athens was half man, half snake. This is illustrated, for example, on a frieze on the Pergamon Altar in Pergamum. Boreas (Aquilon to the Romans) was the Greek god of the cold north wind, described by Pausanias as a winged man with serpents between his legs.^[1] The ancient Greek cult of Glycon worshipped a snake god who had the head of a man. The Lamia, a child-devouring female demon from Greek mythology, was half woman, half serpent.

India

In Indian scriptures and legends, the Nāga (Devanagari: नाग) are reptilian beings said to live underground and interact with human beings on the surface. In some versions, these beings were said to have once lived on a continent in the Indian Ocean that sank beneath the waves. Indian texts also refer to a reptilian race called the "Sarpa" (Devanagari: सर्प). The Syrictæ of India (not to be confused with the Sciritae of ancient Greece) were a legendary tribe of men with snake-like nostrils in place of noses and bandy serpentine legs.^{[citation needed]}

East Asia

In China, Korea and Japan, underwater realms are referred to where the Dragon Kings and their descendants live, as well as a lineage of humans descended from a race of dragons.^{[citation needed]} This lineage was often claimed by East Asian emperors, who were believed to be able to change from human to dragon form at will.^{[citation needed]}

Biblical

In the Book of Genesis, God punishes the serpent for deceiving Eve into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil by decreeing, "Upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of your life" (Genesis 3:14 KJV). Traditionally, many^[2] have felt this implied that the serpent (a snake or reptile) had legs before then. It is therefore sometimes portrayed in Western art as a humanoid with a snake's tail, and sometimes lizard-like feet, as in a detail from Bosch's Last Judgement or in Robert Crumb's illustrated version of Genesis.

Mesoamerica

Quetzalcoatl in reptilian humanoid form

Quetzalcoatl, the "feathered serpent", was the creator god and sky god of the Aztecs. He was variously depicted as a man, a serpent, or a reptilian humanoid.

Evolutionary thought experiment

Overview

A theoretical reptilian humanoid has also been the focus of a widely discussed thought experiment in speculative evolution. In particular, in 1982 paleontologist Dale Russell, curator of vertebrate fossils at the National Museum of Canada in Ottawa, conjectured a possible evolutionary path that might have been taken by the dinosaur Troodon (then called Stenonychosaurus) had they not all perished in the K/T extinction event 65 million years ago.^[3] The essence of this thought experiment was that bipedal predators (theropods) which existed at that time, such as Troodon, could have evolved into intelligent beings similar in body plan to humans. Over geologic time, Russell noted that there had been a steady increase in the encephalization quotient or EQ (the relative brain weight when compared to other species with the same body weight) among the dinosaurs.^[3] Russell had discovered the first Troodontid skull, and noted that, while its EQ was low compared to humans, it was six times higher than that of other dinosaurs. If the trend in Troodon evolution had continued to the present, its brain case could by now measure 1,100 cm³; comparable to that of a human.^[3] Troodontids had semi-manipulative fingers, able to grasp and hold objects to a certain degree, and binocular vision.^[3]

Description

Russel proposed that this Dinosauroid, like most dinosaurs of the troodontid family, would have had large eyes and three fingers on each hand, one of which would have been partially opposed. As with most modern reptiles (and birds), he conceived of its genitalia as internal. Russell speculated that it would have required a navel, as a placenta aids the development of a large brain case. However, it would not have possessed mammary glands, and would have fed its young, as birds do, on regurgitated food. He speculated that its language would have sounded somewhat like bird song.^[4]

Criticism

Russell's thought experiment has been met with criticism from other paleontologists since the 1980s, many of whom point out that Russell's Dinosauroid is overly anthropomorphic. Gregory S. Paul (1988) and Thomas R. Holtz Jr., consider it "suspiciously human" (Paul, 1988) and argue that a large-brained, highly intelligent troodontid would retain a more standard theropod body plan, with a horizontal posture and long tail, and would probably manipulate objects with the snout and feet in the manner of a bird, rather than with human-like "hands".^[4]

In cryptozoology

Claims of reptilian humanoid cryptids have persisted for many years. Examples include the rumored Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp in South Carolina; a set of claims regarding a reptilian humanoid known as the Thetis Lake monster reported in Canada in the 1970s, and the Loveland Frog, a set of alleged reports of a humanoid froglike creatures around Loveland, Ohio, since the 1950s.

In UFOlogy

In many of the modern claims of encounters with reptilian humanoids, a UFO is part of the encounter; alien abduction narratives sometimes allege contact with reptilian creatures.^[5] One of the earliest reports was that of Ashland, Nebraska police officer Herbert Schirmer, who claims to have been taken aboard a UFO by humanoid beings with a slightly reptilian appearance, and who bore a "winged serpent" emblem on the left side of their chest.^[6]

Conspiracy theory

According to writer David Icke, 7-foot (2.1 m) tall, blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from the Alpha Draconis star system are the force behind a worldwide conspiracy directed at humanity.^{[citation needed]} He claims that the reptilians maintain their control through the generation of fear and negative emotion, which is food to these entities, by manufacturing conflicts, primarily wars.^{[citation needed]} He contends that most of the world's leaders are in fact related to these reptilians.^[7] Icke's theories now have supporters in 47 countries and he frequently gives lectures to crowds of 2,500 or more.^[8][9]

Icke draws connections between the reptilian aliens in his theories and the Annunaki depicted in Zecharia Sitchin's 12th Planet,^[10] which has led to other conspiracy theorists referring to reptilian humanoids as the "Annunaki";^[11] however, Sitchin himself has always described his Annunaki as purely humanoid.^{[citation needed]}

Politics

A disputed ballot from the 2008 Minnesota Senate election

During a provincial election in Ontario, Canada on September 12, 2003, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario disseminated a press release describing Ontario Liberal Party opposition leader Dalton McGuinty as an "Evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet".^[12]

In the 2008 U.S. Senate election in Minnesota, one ballot included a vote for Al Franken with "Lizard People" written in the space provided for write-in candidates.^[13] The Norm Coleman campaign successfully challenged the ballot, which drew some public attention.^[14]

In fiction

Reptilian humanoids are a common theme in fiction, whether fantasy or science fiction. Because of the aversion that many people have for reptiles in general, reptile-like aliens are often the villain in such works. Albert A. Harrison notes, "Science fiction writers and movie producers are well aware of how appearances affect us, and they are able to construct their aliens to achieve the desired dramatic effects. We may respond favorably to those that remind us of children or pets, and less favorably to those that remind us of lizards... or other creatures that have 'image' problems... For many animals, large eyes or eyelike patterns tend to elicit fear and escape responses. One possible explanation for this is that large, staring eyes often belong to predators. Immense eyes or eyelike appendages may also be threatening to humans, and this threat may contribute to an aversion to 'bug-eyed monsters'."^[15]

Another explanation notes the assumed "slimy" feel of reptiles, rather than their appearance, as a source of horror. R. Rawdon Wilson, Professor Emeritus of the Department of English at the University of Alberta, explored the theme in The Hydra's Tale: Imagining Disgust: "Because of the genre's emphasis upon explicit images, horror films are rich in examples of wetness and dissolution... In Alien, Aliens, and Alien3 and Alien Resurrection, the xenomorphic monsters drip liquid from their mouths in improbable ways... The association with slime is more fundamentally established in the stages of the alien's developmental phases. It is a "Linnean nightmare, defying every natural law of evolution; by turns bivalve, crustacean, reptilian, and humanoid..." Wilson also notes that the xenomorphs in the Alien films are, as well as being slimy biological monsters, machine-like in two ways: they are both a digestive and a reproductive machine, but also evolved (or designed) to resemble a non-biological machine: hard, shiny, their heads like motorcycle nacelles, metallic in texture, sleek, aerodynamic in shape.^[16]

Human-like reptiles have appeared in various popular treatments, from early pulp short stories and novellas, to full novels, comic books, television features, films, and the gaming industry. For example, the television show Doctor Who featured several reptilian humanoid races, including the Mars-dwelling Ice Warriors, the alien Draconians (who ultimately emerge as a benevolent, noble race), the marine Sea Devils and the land-based Silurians. The sleestaks from Land of the Lost are villainous lizard creatures.^[17] In Star Wars, the Trandoshans are dinosauroid in appearance, hailing from the planet Trandosha near the Kasshyyyk system.^[18] In Star Trek, the Gorn, the Voth, the reptilian Xindi, the Tosk, the Jem'Hadar, the Xaranite and to a certain extent the Cardassians fall into the reptilian humanoid category. In the V science fiction franchise, the invading alien "Visitors" are reptilian humanoids wearing human disguises. In the TV series, journey to the centre of the earth, brown lizard men attack the main heroes. Reptilian humanoids in video games are particularly featured in MMORGs, as in World of Warcraft).^[19] Another example are the Drakels in the online role-playing game AdventureQuest.^[20] More recently, the 2008 movie The Midnight Meat Train features the existence of reptilian creatures being hidden and their very existence being sustained by feeding them human flesh daily.

See also

• Legend of the White Snake
• Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp
• Loveland Frog

Notes

References

External links

• Reptilian Aliens in Science Fiction Movies
• The Hydra's Tale; Imagining Disgust

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