Portray of a griffin, a lion-raptor chimera, along the fossils of Protoceratops, a horned dinosaur. The latter are mentioned to have knowledgeable the lore and look of the previous, however our find out about means that there is not any compelling connection between dinosaurs and griffins. Credit score: Dr Mark WittonA new find out about refutes the idea that griffin myths had been impressed by means of Protoceratops dinosaur fossils, revealing inconsistencies within the geographical and historic proof and advocating for a go back to conventional interpretations of those mythological creatures.A brand new find out about demanding situations the preferred and widely-promoted declare that dinosaur fossils impressed the legend of the griffin, the mythological creature with the pinnacle and wings of a raptor hen and the frame of a lion.The precise hyperlink between dinosaur fossils and griffin mythology used to be proposed over 30 years in the past in a chain of papers and books written by means of folklorist Adrienne Mayor. Those began with the 1989 Cryptozoology paper entitled ‘Paleocryptozoology: a choice for collaboration between classicists and cryptozoologists’, and had been cemented within the seminal 2000 e book ‘The First Fossil Hunters. The speculation was a staple of books, documentaries and museum shows.It means that an early horned dinosaur of Mongolia and China, Protoceratops, used to be found out by means of historical nomads prospecting for gold in Central Asia. Stories of Protoceratops bones then traveled southwest on business routes to encourage, or no less than affect, tales and artwork of the griffin.Griffins are one of the vital oldest mythological creatures, first showing in Egyptian and Heart Japanese artwork right through the 4th millennium BC, prior to changing into in style in historical Greece right through the eighth century BC.Protoceratops used to be a small (round 2 meters lengthy) dinosaur that lived in Mongolia and northerly China right through the Cretaceous duration (75-71 million years in the past). They belong to the horned dinosaur workforce, making it a relative of Triceratops, even supposing they in reality lack facial horns. Like griffins, Protoceratops stood on 4 legs, had beaks, and had frill-like extensions in their skulls that, it’s been argued, might be interpreted as wings.Vital Reevaluation by means of ScientistsIn the primary detailed evaluation of the claims, find out about authors Dr Mark Witton and Richard Hing, paleontologists on the College of Portsmouth, re-evaluated historic fossil information, the distribution and nature of Protoceratops fossils, and classical assets linking the griffin with the Protoceratops, consulting with historians and archeologists to completely perceive the traditional, non-fossil primarily based view of griffin origins. In the end, they discovered that not one of the arguments withstood scrutiny.Concepts that Protoceratops could be found out by means of nomads prospecting for gold, as an example, are not likely when Protoceratops fossils happen masses of kilometers clear of historical gold websites. Within the century since Protoceratops used to be found out, no gold has been reported along them. It additionally turns out in doubt that nomads would have observed a lot of Protoceratops skeletons, although they prospected for gold the place their fossils happen.
Comparisons between the skeleton of Protoceratops and historical griffin artwork. The griffins are all very clearly in response to large cats, from their musculature and lengthy, versatile tails to the manes (indicated by means of coiled “hair” at the neck), and birds, and vary from Protoceratops in nearly all measures of share and shape. Symbol compiled from illustrations in Witton and Hing (2024). Credit score: Dr Mark Witton“There’s an assumption that dinosaur skeletons are found out half-exposed, mendacity round virtually just like the stays of just lately deceased animals,” mentioned Dr Witton. “However normally talking, only a fraction of an eroding dinosaur skeleton will probably be visual to the bare eye, left out to all excluding for sharp-eyed fossil hunters.“That’s virtually without a doubt how historical peoples wandering round Mongolia encountered Protoceratops. In the event that they sought after to peer extra, as they’d want to in the event that they had been forming myths about those animals, they’d must extract the fossil from the encircling rock. This is no small process, even with trendy gear, glues, protecting wrapping, and preparatory ways. It kind of feels extra possible that Protoceratops stays, by means of and massive, went left out — if the gold prospectors had been even there to peer them.”Selection Explanations for Griffin ImagerySimilarly, the geographic unfold of griffin artwork thru historical past does no longer align with the situation of griffin lore starting with Central Asian fossils after which spreading west. There also are no unambiguous references to Protoceratops fossils in historical literature.Protoceratops is most effective griffin-like in being a four-limbed animal with a beak. There aren’t any main points in griffin artwork suggesting that their fossils had been referenced however, conversely, many griffins had been obviously composed from options of dwelling cats and birds.Dr Witton added: “The entirety about griffin origins is in keeping with their conventional interpretation as imaginary beasts, simply as their look is totally defined by means of them being chimeras of giant cats and raptorial birds. Invoking a task for dinosaurs in griffin lore, particularly species from far-off lands like Protoceratops, no longer most effective introduces needless complexity and inconsistencies to their origins, but in addition depends on interpretations and recommendations that don’t resist scrutiny.”The authors are prepared to fret that there’s very good proof of fossils being culturally vital all the way through human historical past, and innumerable circumstances of fossils inspiring folklore all over the world, known as ‘geomyths’.Richard Hing mentioned: “It is very important distinguish between fossil folklore with a factual foundation — this is, connections between fossils and fable evidenced by means of archaeological discoveries or compelling references in literature and paintings — and speculated connections in response to instinct.“There’s not anything inherently unsuitable with the concept historical peoples discovered dinosaur bones and included them into their mythology, however we want to root such proposals in realities of historical past, geography, and paleontology. Differently, they’re simply hypothesis.”Dr Witton added: “No longer all mythological creatures call for explanations thru fossils. One of the vital most well liked geomyths — Protoceratops and griffins, fossil elephants and cyclopes, and dragons and dinosaurs — don’t have any evidential foundation and are totally speculative. We endorse those tales as a result of they’re thrilling and appear intuitively believable, however doing so ignores our rising wisdom of fossil geomyths grounded in reality and proof. Those are simply as attention-grabbing as their conjectural opposite numbers, and almost definitely deserve extra consideration than totally speculated geomythological eventualities.”Reference: “Did the horned dinosaur Protoceratops encourage the griffin?” by means of Mark P. Witton and Richard A. Hing, 19 June 2024, Interdisciplinary Science Evaluations.
DOI: 10.1177/03080188241255543
