regardless. they are still very close from a fantasy / mythology point of view. Many identities in mythology have a real identity in the real world. I've even seen cases where scholars and historians have said that the original Germanic / Norse tales of Elves have the same root as the Hebrew Angels as recorded in the Bible - people that live in a spiritual world between the high Heaven and the physical realm yet influence good and bad on mankind. To have both dinosaurs and dragons may seem weird. I personally prefer one or other in fantasy.

Recent discoveries in China of a sample of fossilized dinosaur skin from some form of T-Rex "cousin" show signs of "downy" feathers. It's possible that the larger dinosaurs had primitive feather-like coverings. That would fit the "feathered serpent" mystique nicely, and would ALSO be a "dinosaur".

Besides, "dinosaurs" weren't "reptiles", and may have been "cool-blooded" with slightly elevated body temperatures (and feathers for insulation), rather than "cold-blooded" like reptiles; perhaps closer to birds than to lizards.

Morrowind had Guars, which were a seriously weird cross between dinosaurs, cattle, and Barney (fortunately, without the annoying song).