Real dragon-like animals and places, where mythical dragons would feel at home.
So, the world doesn’t have fire (or scalding or icy water) spewing dragons (anymore), but there are plenty of creatures that are still called dragons by name: We have venomous “Komodo Dragons”, “Flying Dragons” (lizards of Southeast Asia and India), Leafy Seadragons, Bearded Dragons and more.
In fact, around the world there are lots of fierce and interesting reptiles that look like they could be mistaken for a distant cousin to our mythical reptilian dragon friends (and enemies).
Of course… maybe these mythical dragons were just based on such animals to begin with, by those who imagined them in fairytales. 