Skip to main content

Griffin

Griffin
The Griffin (or Gryphon) is a well known legendary creature that has the head and talons of an Eagle, but the body and hind legs of a Lion. Sometimes they are also shown having a snake for a tail, and oftentimes only the female have wings-- makes have large spikes.

These animals show up in art that dates back more than 5,500 years. The first Griffin-type creatures appear in Persian and Egyptian art over five millennia ago, about by about 1,500BCE full Griffins as we know them today were popping up in Greece and Central Asia. For the past several thousand years they have been featured in various works of art, including sculpture and architecture, and they have shown up in numerous writings as well (including those of Pliny the Elder).

In most mythologies, Griffins are wise and powerful creatures that command a great deal of respect. They are often said to seek out and guard various treasures, and their strength and wisdom has led them to become popular figures in heraldry. Don't confuse them with Hippgriffs though! Those are very different animals, with the bodies of horses rather than lions. Hippogriffs are said to me the crosses of Griffins and Mares.

There is actually a pretty decent theory surrounding the origin of the Griffin myth. Folklorist Adrianne Mayor has speculated that fossils of Protoceratops confused the ancient people, leading to the invention of this mythical beast.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...
37 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more