The youngster, Sophie, wrote to a "Lovely Scientist" at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), politely asking whether they could make her a winged pet of her own.
"I would call it Toothless if it was a girl and if it is a boy I would name it Stuart," she wrote in her letter, promising to feed it raw fish and play with it when she wasn't at school.
Sophie's request prompted an unusual apology from the 87-year-old institution, which admitted "we've missed something".
"There are no dragons," it said in a blog reply posted on its website this week.
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"Over the past 87 odd years we have not been able to create a dragon or dragon eggs," it said, adding that its scientists had observed dragonflies and even measured the body temperatures of the lizard known as a mallee dragon.
The CSIRO said scientists overseas had recently pondered whether dragon fire would be produced by flint, gas, or rocket fuel, and speculated whether its own research into alternative fuels could be a starting block for its dragon research and development programme.
"Would dragon fuel be a low emissions option? Thanks for the fuel for thought, Sophie. We're looking into it," it said.
The enquiry had a fairytale ending today when the CSIRO announced that, thanks to Sophie's letter, "a dragon was born".
"Toothless, 3D printed out of titanium, came into the world at Lab 22, our additive manufacturing facility in Melbourne."
The electric blue and grey dragon, small enough to be held by hand, is currently en route from Melbourne to Sophie's home in Brisbane, the CSIRO said.
"Being that electron beams were used to 3D print her, we are certainly glad she didn't come out breathing them... instead of fire," said the CSIRO's Chad Henry.
"Titanium is super strong and lightweight, so Toothless will be a very capable flyer.