Villagers in central China unearthed a huge cache of dinosaur bones. Amazed by their discovery, the peasants believed the enormous skeletons were from ancient dragons and that the fossils had magical powers. They boiled the bones to make healing soup and mixed “dragon powder” into pastes that were applied to wounds and fractures.

"Some locals even made a business out of collecting the bones. One had collected up to 8,000 kg," said Zhang Xinliao from Henan Geology Museum in an interview with reporters.

Scientists soon realized the people’s mistake and collected the remaining 440 pounds of fossils. This story is a little sad – who knows what missing-link dinos are now lost forever. But isn’t there something charming about the villagers’ naiveté? They really believed that dragons once ruled the skies. The world would be a much cooler place if they were right.

Then again, gigantoraptors are pretty close.