In an abstruse kind of proto-evolutionary theory the Huai Nan Tzu (first century B.C.) names dragons as the forebears of the phoenix, unicorn, k'un fish and tortoise and thus of all creatures feathered, furry, scaly and shelled.
介潭生先龍，先龍生玄黿，玄黿生靈龜，靈龜生庶龜，凡介者生於庶龜。」在這玄妙而類似原始進化論的理論下，龍赫然成為鳥類、獸類、魚類、甲殼類的始祖。