A ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ‘dragon’ has been discovered by residents of a Chinese village who claim that the bizarre skeleton is proof that the mythical creature actually exists.

The peculiarly long skeleton measures at least 60ft, has two incongruous little ‘arms’ jutting out in the centre and a head that looks suspiciously like a cow skull.

It was found laid out in a field in Zhangjiakou City, in China’s northern Hebei Province.

Unlike dragons depicted in Western mythology, traditional Chinese dragons have no wings and fly by ‘swimming’ through the air much like how snakes slither along the ground.

The anatomy of the strange skeleton thereby convinced some locals that the remains could indeed be a dragon.

Footage taken by various witnesses at the scene shows dozens of villagers surrounding the suspected dragon remains.

The villagers are not sure what to make of the skeleton, but a supersтιтious few seemed convinced that they were indeed looking at the remains of the mythical creature.

Netizens on Chinese social media said the ribby skeleton appeared to have been placed there intentionally, perhaps as a prop for a movie, but so far no one has come forwards to confirm these claims.

On the website, people wrote that the skeleton looked like a movie prop made with cow or sheep bones.

The ‘dragon’ head looks remarkably like a cow skull and some people have claimed online that the many bones that make up its body look like cow and sheep bones

A writer on the website also posted a picture of locals ‘riding’ the creature and said that the picture was proof that they knew it was a prank.

They wrote: ‘The villagers were riding on it and having pictures taken, they showed no respect so it was obvious that they knew what it was.’

Local authorities in Zhangjiakou have also yet to release a statement about the so-called dragon remains.

Regardless of the skeleton’s origins, the video has been viewed more than 10 million times already so it is proving a popular hoax.

This picture (left) emerged on Chinese media which shows locals ‘riding’ the skeleton. It was suggested that the locals  really knew that the skeleton was just a prank because if they really did think it was a dragon they would have showed more respect for it