Many races had been looking back.
This was because the world itself had shown them a lot of ruins isolated, sealed away, or entirely destroyed. The remnants left behind allowed them to find the traces of their races in ancient times. Bits and pieces that explained how they gained intelligence or how they survived.
The lizard man monster species that lacked a key form of intelligence was always related to the dragonkin. Cousins, one that was serving dragons and had grown alongside them and another that lived alone in swamp lands always violent and hungry.
However, it was found that they were somewhat more similar than what was last expected.
Ruins suggested that the dragon blood was added to an ancient salamander species of monster. When the dragons were more violent fighting one another with less acceptance of their intelligent nature. When the salamander monster species could fight dragons at times and even win.
