A painting of a griffin, chimeras of a lion and a predator, next to fossils Protoceratops, a horned dinosaur. The latter are said to have informed the lore and appearance of the former, but our study suggests that there is no conclusive link between dinosaurs and griffins. Credit: Dr Mark Witton
A new study debunks the theory that griffin myths were inspired Protoceratops dinosaur fossils, exposing inconsistencies in geographic and historical evidence and advocating a return to traditional interpretations of these mythological creatures.
A new study challenges the popular and widely publicized claim that dinosaur fossils inspired the legend of the griffin, a mythological creature with the head and wings of a bird of prey and the body of a lion.
A specific connection between dinosaur fossils and griffin mythology was suggested more than 30 years ago in a series of articles and books written by folklorist Adrienne Mayor. They started in 1989 Cryptozoology document called ‘Paleocryptozoology: a call for cooperation between classicists and cryptozoologists’, and were consolidated in the seminal 2000 book ‘The First Fossil Hunters. The idea became the basis of books, documents and museum exhibits.
This suggests that an early horned dinosaur from Mongolia and China, Protoceratops, discovered by ancient nomads searching for gold in Central Asia. Stories about Protoceratops the bones then traveled southwest along trade routes to inspire or at least influence the griffin’s stories and art.
Griffins are one of the oldest mythological creatures, first appearing in Egyptian and Near Eastern art during the 4th millennium BC before becoming popular in ancient Greece during the 8th century BC.
Protoceratops was a small (about 2 meters long) dinosaur that lived in Mongolia and northern China during Chalky period (75-71 million years ago). It belongs to the group of horned dinosaurs, making it a relative of Triceratops, even though they don’t actually have facial horns. Like griffins, Protoceratops they stood on four legs, had beaks, and resembled ciliated extensions on their skulls, which, it was argued, could be interpreted as wings.
A critical reappraisal by scholars
In the first detailed assessment of the claims, the authors of the study, Dr. Mark Witton and Richard Hing, paleontologists University of Portsmouthre-evaluated the historical fossil record, distribution and nature Protoceratops fossils and classical sources linking the griffin with Protoceratopsthey consulted with historians and archaeologists to fully understand the conventional, non-fossil view of the griffin’s origins. In the end, they found that none of the arguments held up.
Ideas that Protoceratops would be discovered by gold-seeking nomads, for example, it is unlikely when Protoceratops fossils are found hundreds of kilometers from ancient gold deposits. In the century from Protoceratops was discovered, no gold was reported alongside them. It also seems doubtful that nomads would see much Protoceratops skeletons, even if they searched for gold where their fossils occur.
Comparison between the skeleton of Protoceratops and the ancient art of griffins. All griffins are very obviously based on big cats, from their musculature and long, flexible tails to their manes (indicated by curled “hair” on their necks) and birds, and vary from Protoceratops in practically all measures of proportion and form. Figure compiled from illustrations in Witton and Hing (2024). Credit: Dr Mark Witton
“There is an assumption that dinosaur skeletons are discovered half-exposed, lying almost like the remains of recently deceased animals,” Dr Witton said. “But generally speaking, only a fraction of an eroding dinosaur skeleton will be visible to the naked eye, unnoticed by all but sharp-eyed fossil hunters.”
“It was almost certainly encountered by ancient peoples wandering around Mongolia. Protoceratops. If they wanted to see more, which they would need if they were to create myths about these animals, they would have to extract the fossil from the surrounding rock. This is no small task even with modern tools, adhesives, protective packaging and preparation techniques. That seems more likely Protoceratops the remains, on the whole, went unnoticed—if the gold diggers saw them at all.’
An alternative explanation for the Griffin images
Similarly, the geographic distribution of griffin art throughout history is inconsistent with the scenario of the griffin tradition beginning with Central Asian fossils and then spreading westward. There are no clear references to either Protoceratops fossils in ancient literature.
Protoceratops he is only like a griffin like a four-legged animal with a beak. There are no details in the art of the griffins to suggest that their fossils were referenced, but on the contrary, many griffins were clearly composed of the features of living cats and birds.
Dr Witton added: “Everything about the origin of griffins is consistent with the traditional interpretation of them as imaginary animals, just as their appearance is entirely explained by them being chimeras of large cats and birds of prey. Especially invoking the role of dinosaurs in the griffin lore species from distant lands like Protoceratopsnot only does it introduce unnecessary complexity and inconsistencies into their origins, but it also rests on interpretations and propositions that do not stand up to scrutiny.”
The authors like to point out that there is excellent evidence that fossils have been culturally important throughout human history, and countless instances of fossil inspiration for folklore around the world, referred to as “geomyths”.
Richard Hing said: “It is important to distinguish between fossil folklore with a factual basis – that is, connections between fossils and myths supported by archaeological discoveries or convincing references in literature and artwork – and speculative connections based on intuition.”
“There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea that ancient people found dinosaur bones and incorporated them into their mythology, but we must ground such suggestions in the realities of history, geography and paleontology. Otherwise it’s just speculation.”
Dr Witton added: “Not all mythological creatures require explanation through fossils. Some of the most popular geomyths – Protoceratops and griffins and fossil elephants and cyclops and dragons and dinosaurs—have no evidentiary basis and are entirely speculative. We promote these stories because they are exciting and seem intuitively plausible, but it ignores our growing knowledge of fossil geomyths based on fact and evidence. They are as interesting as their putative counterparts and probably deserve more attention than entirely speculative geomythological scenarios.
Link: “Did the horned dinosaur Protoceratops inspire the griffin?” by Mark P. Witton and Richard A. Hing, June 19, 2024, Interdisciplinary Scientific Reviews.
DOI: 10.1177/03080188241255543