Mythical Animal Anatomy and Taxonomy

Nature Talk
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I have always been fascinated with mythical animals, and have tried to imagine ways for sometimes ludicrous-sounding anatomies to work and how mythical animals would be classified if they were real.

  1. How would iNat integrate mythical animals into the taxonomic backbone if they suddenly appeared?
  2. How would taxonomy be different today if mythical animals had always been real?
  3. How could the anatomy described in some mythical animals actually be expressed?
  4. What are some suggested scientific names for mythical animals?
  5. How would you classify them?

Some commonly known mythical animals:

Dragon: classic european, reptilian with six limbs, wings and legs. Can normally breathe fire. You can also do whatever type of dragon from mythology you want (like Chinese).

Griffin: front half of a bird of prey, back half of a lion (could it actually fly?)

Centaur: horse body with a human torso instead of a horse’s head and neck (how would they eat enough food?)

Satyr/faun: torso of a person, legs of a goat. Normally have horns.

Unicorn: horse with one horn.

Chimera: three-headed mix of a lion, snake/dragon, and goat.

Manticore: lion with a scorpion tail and a human-like head.

Mermaid: human torso with a fish tail.

Werewolf: not the magical kind. The giant humanoid wolf.

Phoenix: bird that can catch itself on fire at will.

Any other cryptid, monster, or mythical animal not from modern fiction

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Je pense que iNat les classeraient comme des animaux comme les autres car leur existence Ă©tant prouvĂ©es, ils n’auraient plus rien de fabuleux. La taxonomie saurait la mĂȘme car ces espĂšces resteraient dans le rĂšgne animalia, n’en crĂ©ant pas de nouveau. Faisons un rĂ©cap de des espĂšces que vous avez citĂ©es:

-Dragon: Quel dragon en particulier ? Reptilia, probablement Varanidae; probablement un mĂ©canisme le gaz relachĂ© par l’organisme et une Ă©tincelle produite par un organe interne.

-Griffon: Mammalia, chiroptÚres/ Aves, ciconiiformes; juste un physique particulier qui à fait exagérer les voyageurs européens.

-Centaure/Satyre/ChimĂšre: Humain; hallucinogĂšnes.

-Licorne: Mammalia, Equidae/Antilopinae/Rhinocerotidae; Monocorne ou deux cornes enroulĂ©es. Les bergers kurdes torsadent les cornes de certains chevreaux afin qu’elles n’en fassent qu’une seule, ce qui fait que ces animaux ont plus de chance de devenir des chefs de troupeaux.

-Manticore: Mammalia, Carnivora; Les “queues de scorpion” sont assez courantes dans le monde animal. Plus probablement un animal avec une queue trùs puissante.

-Sirùne: Quel sirùne ? Nordique: -Mammalia, Sirenia; besoin de voir des femmes de la part des marins qui n’en voyait pas pendant des mois.
Grecque: -Aves, Accipitriformes/Passereaux/Procellariiformes; Oiseaux qui chantaient si bien que les marins se jetaient à l’eau pour les rejoindre. Probablement des oiseaux nichant sur les falaises: Procellariiformes

-Loup-garou: Mammalia, Homo lupus (?); espĂšce dotĂ©e de pouvoir magique, de tĂ©lĂ©pathie et de transformation !!! HonnĂȘment: Magie, rien Ă  faire dans un arbre taxonomique.

-PhĂ©nix: Aves, Accipitriformes/Passeriformes; peut-ĂȘtre un oiseau rouge qui, les faucons qui utilisent du feu, mais qui Ă  pas la bonne technique. Plus esprit mythologique perse.

VoilĂ , c’est ce que je pense pour chacune de ces “espĂšces”, mĂȘme si certaines n’ont absolument aucunes chances d’ĂȘtre un jour dĂ©crites.

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still open: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-cryptids-do-you-believe-are-most-likely-to-exist/46888

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Well, I imagine fire breathing would be similar to the bombardier beetle. Highly volatile chemicals would be stored in a special gland located somewhere in the dragon’s anatomy. When these chemicals react, they cause a combustion reaction and hence cause a large amount of fire/heated air to be expelled out of the mouth. This chemical reaction, often referred to ‘fire breathing’ serves various purposes. It primarily serves the same way rams use their horns. As both defense from predators and as a way to fight for territory and/or mates. However, the exact mechanisms behind this is unknown. I mean, you try catching a dragon to study it’s anatomy!

(I’m so happy for a chance to use my speculative biology notes :DDDDD)

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Griffin is the one i’ve thought about the most (also happens to be my favorite, if I could put griffin as a favorite taxon on my home page I would).
I think class-wise Aves would be best. It would be in its own order, family etc. Maybe something like Falcoleo equivoros (horse-eating falcon-lion) for a scientific name.
I am not sure how large the wing span must be for it to have flown. The bones would be mammalian in shape (except for wings and head) but pneumatized, maybe with a mineral that hardens the bones so stress does not crack them. The wing bones would be attached like a normal bird, maybe with a smaller keel then normal so the front limbs have a place to go. No idea about musculature, digestive system probably lion-like.
edited original post to include basic descriptions of each.
Also just remembered a fandom I saw once: https://fiction-taxonomy.fandom.com/wiki/Fiction_Taxonomy_Wiki. They have griffin in it’s own class, Mammaves, and a scientific name of Opinicus gryphus.

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My daughter classified Rhinoceros as
Battle Unicorns


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I wouldn’t, because I’m not a taxonomist and I would be in the closet hiding.

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Ooh, that’s a cool thought! I always imagined they would just have a gland for butane or whatever.

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but how would they produce Butane? A annual raid on natural gas reserves? Lol

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I dunno, refills?
That’s why my theory is flawed.

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As a science nerd , I’m better at more science-y cryptids. Like yetis or sea monsters, which are basically just animals. Stuff like manticores
 err, evolution would probably not make something like that.

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You say “sea monster”

I see CECIL


image
image320×318 45.1 KB

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I meant sea monsters as a catch-all term, instead of leviathans, sea dragons, krakens, sirens, beeg sharks, etc. Not really monsters, but called monsters anyway.
(Also where is this show from? I’ve never heard of it before, although I used to watch a cartoon about sea creatures. Octonauts, anyone? Anyone?).

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Sometimes the Northern Bobwhite is referred to as a “firebird” due to its need for wildfires. So, I imagine the phoenix has two genuses, an Old World Phoenix similar to Old World Quail, possibly with bright colors like a Monal or Peacock (not quail, but still Galliformes). New World Phoenix would have earthier tones and beautiful plumes, and like the Bobwhite, they would benefit from wildfires and controlled burns.

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Probably they secrete some sort of fire retardant, like how diving birds secret special oils to keep their feathers dry. Idk what the chemical formula for such a retardant could be though. After all, the bird needs to produce/get this fire retardant somehow, right?
Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that for me to imagine a scientifically accurate phoenix, I’ll be going down to da chemistry involved. It makes it more fun!

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Possibly the oil gland produces both a fire proof compond along with a waterproof oil (quail have waterproof oils too!) I don’t know what kind of a compound the fire-proof part of the oil would be though, since a lot of flame retardent materials are
 not found in living things (like asbestos)

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It’s from Los Angeles television in 1949. Almost 80 years ago!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_for_Beany

“One episode portrayed US President Harry Truman in puppet form. Other characters spoofed popular entertainers; examples are Dinah Saur and The Red Skeleton, parodies of Dinah Shore and Red Skelton. Children could laugh at the silliness, and adults could laugh at the political and social satire.”

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I’ll try and watch one episode soon! I might just stick to good ol’ nightmare fuel from Courage the Cowardly dog. Politics is not for me (although I still study about it anyways. Curiosity is a slippery beast, and is impossible to control.)

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this subject is not up my alley but i am reminded of a recent paper mapping arachnids from magic: the gathering onto a phylogenetic tree, lol

Spiders of the Coast: Building the tree of life for arachnids in Magic: The Gathering – M. A. Milne and S. Derkarabetian
https://virginianaturalhistorysociety.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/01/Banisteria_59_02_Milne__Derkarabetian_arachnids_Magic_The_Gathering.pdf

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Wow this thread is growing quickly.