Introduction tothe Anatomy of the lesser known species of the world

The idea behind this project was to answer the question: "What would mythological creatures look, act and be like, if they were real."

Over more than 5 months of work, I was able to complete this beast of a project with a 111 pages and it came out fabulous.

I encourgae you to look at the creatures themselves and the anatomical and culutral work that was put in to create these myths into living and breathing creatures!

The Creatures

The Manticore

The Manticore is a creature from Persian Mythology, with it being passed down to be known in Indian and Greek Mythology, as time passed. It is said that this creature lives in the Indian jungle, where it preys on humans, as its original Persian name “Martikhoras” can be translated as human eater.

The Long

The Eastern dragon called Long. Adding a dragon and being able to look into its existence and anatomy was one of the main reasons for me to create the anatomy book.

Represented here is the Chinese Long and the exciting history and legends that spawned with them.

The Hippokamp

The Hippokamp depicts a two-hoofed horse with the tail of a fi sh. This creature can be found under many diff erent names in many diff erent cultures, including the Romans and Picts of Scotland, where
they are known as “Kelpies”. However, the oldest known mention of this creature comes from Greek mythology, which I referenced to create this interesting animal.

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The Hakutaku

One of my personal favorites from research and illustration is the creature known as Hakutaku. It is one of the animals which is extremely prominent in both Japanese and Chinese Mythology, where it is also known as the “Bai Ze”, one of the four Chinese Unicorns. For the purposes of the anatomy book, I decided to focus on the Japanese Mythology and therefore the represented version of that creature.

The Tarasque

Instead of being a myth even in the sense of the word, the Tarasque is more considered a legend to
the people from the town this “Legend” came from, as the creature Tarasque and its tale are still
celebrated there once a year.

The Jackalope

The Jackalope is one of the creatures I decided to look into, because I already had an idea on how I wanted to represent and expand upon the creature, as the myth itself is not very extensive. This is the case, because the Jackalope was probably intentionally invented and marketed by two hunters in North America, who wanted to make some money in the 1930s.

The Peryton

Unlike the other creatures presented in the anatomy book, the Peryton has a definite origin and creator. Interestingly enough, it gained more popularity in modern culture as it is featured in multiple roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons (DnD).

The Quetzalcoatl

The Quetzalcoatl is considered a god in Mesoamerican Mythology, with its
name fi rst being mentioned all the way back in the First Century and this myth being spread and
reiterated in almost all Nahuatl speaking tribes and cultures.

The Ammit

The Ammit is creature from egyptian mythology. It depictes a deity and demon at the same time as it is important in the decision of the afterlife.