>>42462744I'm certainly not as well versed in other depictions of dragons, but you seem to be right. The Dacian Draco(far left) is a really old depiction but due to its use as an instrument of sorts incidentally appears quite tube(snake)-like. Apep(top left) from Egyptian mythology is often referenced in hindsight as a dragon, though that's a "chicken or the egg" distinction I feel, as I can't find much to do with scholarly sources corroborating with it's identity as a dragon.
Manipuri had dragons, and although I used Pakhangba(below Apep) who's not associated with water, many dragons in the Sanamahism religion were associated with lakes ponds and rivers. What I found interesting about Pakhangba here, is that he looks a lot like a Chinese dragon, with the antlers, but also like a deer with those ears and eyes combined with those antlers.
Coming back to China for a moment, Zhulong(top middle right, snake with a human head) is referenced as early as 3rd century B.C. is literally called a dragon(long), and is nothing but a snake with a human head.
Finishing with the bottom right's Mushkhushshu from Mesopotamian mythology. It actually seems like less of a snake than our other dragons, but it's name literally translates into serpent/snake.
https://www.academia.edu/540407/Transtigridian_Snake_Gods is a pretty interesting jaunt as well and links the Mushkhushshu with serpents and dragons.
Oddly, after all this I feel like the Qilin and the dragon have less of a general distinction just because of how chimeric they are in nature. Still don't think ponyta makes a good dragon though.
