Allocamelus. Allocamelus from Edward Topsell's The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, 1658. The image was originally from a Dutch work published in 1558. Topsell believed that the creature was the offspring of a camel and mule. Bai Ze. Portrait of the Bai Ze on an Okinawan scroll painting by Gusukuma Seihō. Baí Zé (simplified Chinese: 白泽; traditional Chinese: 白澤; Wade–Giles: Pai Tse), or hakutaku (白澤?) In Japanese, is a fantastic beast from Chinese legend. Its name literally means "white marsh". The Baí Zé was encountered by the Yellow Emperor or Huáng Dì while he was on patrol in the east. Thereafter the creature dictated to Huáng Dì a guide to the forms and habits of all 11,520 types of supernatural creatures in the world, and how to overcome their hauntings and attacks.
The emperor had this information written down in a book called the Bái Zé Tú (白泽图/白澤圖). This book no longer exists, but many fragments of it survive in other texts. In Japan[edit] According to legend, a creature called kutabe, thought to be identical to the Bai Ze of China, once appeared on Mount Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture and "predicted that a deadly plague would sweep through in the next few years. References[edit] Harper, Donald (December 1985).
Deer. Horses. Jackalope. A mock-up of a stuffed Jackalope in a restaurant near Death Valley The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore (a so-called "fearsome critter") described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail (and often hind legs). The word "jackalope" is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antelope". A group of jackalopes is called a flaggerdoot.[1] Myth[edit] Plate XLVII of Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra) by Joris Hoefnagel, circa 1575, showing a "horned hare" The jackalope has led to many outlandish (and largely tongue-in-cheek) claims as to the creature's habits.
The New York Times attributes the story's origin to a 1932 hunting outing involving Douglas Herrick (1920–2003) of Douglas, Wyoming. Mythological references to a horned rabbit creature can be found in the Huichol legends. Official recognition[edit] In 2005, the state legislature of Wyoming considered a bill to make the jackalope the state's official mythological creature. Lamassu. Lamassu at the British Museum. A lamassu (Cuneiform: 𒀭𒆗, AN.KAL; Sumerian: dlamma; Akkadian: lamassu) is an Assyrian protective deity, often depicted with a bull or lion's body, eagle's wings, and human's head.[1] In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a female deity.[2][3] A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: 𒀭𒆘, AN.KAL×BAD; Sumerian: dalad; Akkadian, šēdu; Hebrew: שד) which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu.[4] See the etymology section for a full explanation of the relationship of the names.
Iconography[edit] In art, lamassu were depicted as hybrids, either winged bulls or lions with the head of a human male. The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the Near East, first recorded in Ebla around 3000 BCE. The first distinct lamassu motif appeared in Assyria during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser[disambiguation needed]. Terminology[edit] Mythology[edit] The lamassu is a celestial being from Mesopotamian mythology. In fiction[edit]
Qilin. A Ming-era painting of a tribute giraffe, which was thought to be a Qilin by court officials, from Bengal Origins[edit] The earliest references to the qilin are in the 5th century BC Zuo Zhuan.[2][3] The qilin made appearances in a variety of subsequent Chinese works of history and fiction, such as Feng Shen Bang. Emperor Wu of Han apparently captured a live qilin in 122 BC, although Sima Qian was skeptical of this.[4] In legend, the Qilin became tiger-like after their disappearance in real life and become a stylized representation of the giraffe in Ming Dynasty.[5][6] The identification of the Qilin with giraffes began after Zheng He's voyage to East Africa (landing, among other places, in modern-day Somalia). The identification between the Qilin and the giraffe is supported by some attributes of the Qilin, including its vegetarian and quiet nature. Description[edit] Qilin may be described or depicted in a variety of ways. Qilin generally have Chinese dragon-like features.
China[edit] Tahash.