Dawndraco and the Native American Piasa Bird-Dragon coloring pages

 Welcome to my free coloring pages blog.

Today's new drawings are a Pterosaur called Dawndraco, 

and a type of Native American Bird-Dragon called a Piasa.

These drawings are part of my series of drawings that pair up 

a Pterosaur or Dinosaur with a dragon name...

with a type of Dragon from the local mythology 

where the fossilized animal (with a Dragon name) was found. 

Dawndraco with a Fish

(Did you notice the fish in its mouth?)

Piasa Bird-Dragon

Dawndraco was a type of Pteranodon from the Cretaceous Period of North America.  It was around the size of a Pteranodon but perhaps with a bigger head in relation to its body.  So it had a wingspread of around 18 feet or 5.6 meters wide.  It also had an overbite in its mouth.  There is some debate on whether Dawndraco is just a type of Pteranodon, and should not be in its own genus.  

The full scientific name of this Pterosaur or flying reptile is Dawndraco kanzai.  It's Genus or Generic name of Dawndraco is referring to the Iroquois tribe's God of the Dawn. (I am part Iroquois.)  And the part of the name that means "dragon" is the Latin word for dragon or "draco."  The species name of kanzai is a nod to the Kaw Nation of Native Americans.  This tribe is also called Kansa or Kaw or Kaza, or Konza or Kans, or Conza, or Kasa.  The tribe is sometimes referred to as the People of the South Wind or People of the Water. That name works well for a Pterosaur that flew and glided on the wind AND fished in rivers of water.  

If you have not figured it out yet, this tribe is where the United States state of Kansas got its name.  Dawndraco fossils were found in the State of Kansas in rocks that date to about 86 million years ago. 

The Piasa Bird is a type of Native American Dragon.  It is known from rock drawings along the Mississippi River.  Legends say it is a bird or dragon that eats people.  Another legend says a wise chief acted as a decoy so his warriors could kill it with poison arrows.  

NOTE:  These drawings can be found, in printable form, by clicking on the correct button.  For the Dawndraco printable drawing click on the button labeled:  "Paleontology.  Then scroll down to the bottom of the list of printable drawings.  New drawings are at the bottom of the correct list.  For the Piasa Bird-Dragon drawing click on:   "Fantasy, Myths, and Circus."   And remember to scroll way down to get to the new drawing.