ABSTRACT
The composite predator beast, the dragon, originates from three different animals: snake, raptor, and cat in a predator/prey relationship with primates for millions of years. At a particular point in human evolution, a novel conception, 'dragon', enters human consciousness. The dragon is an expression of such chunks, indexings, biograms, and neurognostic structure, a brain-dragon that was created during the time when our ancient arboreal ancestors were adapting to a life on the ground. The brain-dragon rests then in the limbic structures of the brain. The 'dragon' was probably fully fixed 3 to 4 million years ago, about the time of Australopithecus, the first large-brained, upright-walking primate with the manual dexterity to make stone tools. A discussion of animal phobias in modern human populations grants some insight into the deep biological basis of the dragon. The biocultural hypothesis concerning the dragon might offer an insight to the psychotherapists' quandary concerning the origin and nature of most animal phobias.
