Interesting link listing some zoo- related words.

(1785-1851)   Ornithologist, naturalist, woodsman, drawer, painter

Name: John James (Jean Jacques) Audubon
Born: April 26, 1785 in Haiti
Nationality: French, but became U.S. citizen on July 3, 1812
Family: wife Lucy, 2 sons Victor Gifford and John Woodhouse, and a daughter Lucy who died at age 2.
Ocupation: music and fencing instructor, portrait painter, taxidermist, merchant, wildlife painter
Art Medium: watercolor
Publications: Birds of America (1839); The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (1848)

Background: John James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785 in the French Colony of Santo Domingo (now Haiti). His father was Captain Jean Audubon, a French sailor, and his mother was his mistress, Jeanne Rabine. She died when Audubon was 6 months old. When Audubon was three, his father moved him to Nantes, a city on the Loire River in France. Here Audubon learned to love nature and wildlife and began to draw.

In 1803, the 18 year old Audubon moved to America to escape joining Napolean’s Army. His father wanted him to oversee a farm he owned in Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. With few responsibilities at Mill Grove, Audubon’s life was carefree. “Hunting, fishing, drawing, and music,” he wrote, “occupied my every moment,” as did swimming and the local social life. “Not a ball, a skating match, a house or a riding party took place without me,” he recalled. Audubon quickly fell in love with the eastern Pennsylvania countryside and its animals, often roaming the woods and fields incongruously wearing satin breeches and silk stockings. He became an enthusiastic and skilled hunter, both for sport and for his art. He collected all kinds of wildlife specimens, which he both preserved and sketched in attic rooms at Mill Grove.

In a little cave on the banks of the Perkiomen Creek, Audubon conducted the first bird banding in America. Tying silver threads to the legs of phoebes, he discovered that they returned during the spring migration. He also developed techniques for passing wires through freshly killed birds to fix them in characteristic poses on which he based his life-like sketches. He wrote that he had “shot the first Kingfisher I met,” wired the body so that “there stood before me the real Kingfisher,” and proceeded to execute “what I shall call my first drawing actually from nature.” This innovative wiring process, on which he relied throughout his career, enabled Audubon to depict birds in animated and realistic postures, in contrast to the stiff and static images of his predecessors, who drew upon stuffed specimens.

At the age of twenty (1805), Audubon sojourned for a year with his family in France, where he rendered birds in pastel. He also gained his father’s approval to marry Lucy Bakewell, who lived nearby to Mill Grove. After their marriage in 1808, Lucy Bakewell Audubon supported her husband in times of trouble, remained at home to raise their two sons, Victor and John Woodhouse, and worked as a teacher.

“Immediately upon my landing” in the United States in 1806, he later wrote, “prompted by an innate desire to acquire a thorough knowledge of the birds of this happy country,” Audubon resolved to devote his spare time to drawing each American bird in “its natural size and colouring.” Meanwhile, discouraged by disputes with partners and the failure of the lead mine on the property, Audubon sold Mill Grove and moved to Kentucky to seek his fortune as a frontier merchant. He was joined by his wife not long afterward.

Audubon found the wonders of Kentucky so compelling that he often neglected his store. After several commercial ventures failed– partly because he roamed the woods making sketches– he faced bankruptcy in 1819. For a time he eked out a living as an itinerant portrait painter and worked briefly as a taxidermist in Cincinnati, Ohio. But at the age of thirty-five, John James Audubon decided to turn passion into profession, audaciously setting out to depict every bird in America, with an eye to publishing the results. It was a remarkable undertaking for a newcomer with no formal art training, untutored in science, struggling with an unfamiliar language, having few friends, being husband and father, and possessing little money. Only a man of prodigious energy, ambition, determination, and patience, augmented with a knowledge of nature and artistic genius, could have matched his achievements.

Launching his full-time pursuit of America’s birds in 1820, Audubon wanted knowledge of his subjects in their habitats. For two decades, he travled to all parts of the country studying habitats and birds. It is about this time that Audubon develops the styles and techniques in his work that will be his signature. Naturalistic composition and enhanced watercolor application using different media to express textures become his trademark. Believing he had made sufficient progress on his project, Audubon in 1824 took his portfolio to Philadelphia, then the nation’s intellectual, scientific, and publishing center, to seek not only financial support, but an engraver to copy his drawings and a publisher. Posturing as the penultimate “American Woodsman,” Audubon dressed in buckskins and slicked his shoulder-length hair with bear grease and vigorously set out to promote his bird book. He was rejected in Philadelphia but kept searching for promoters. In 1839, at the age of fifty-nine, Audubon had achieved a most extraordinary feat. There were 435 plates, each one printed on double elephant folio paper and each bird depicted both life-size and in its natural environment. His Birds of America was finally released. The Audubon family settle in New York City but he is not content. Audubon decides to start another project, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America and sets out to paint mammals. In 1846, Audubon at age 60, starts to lose his eyesight. A year later he has a stroke, which disabled him, so he settles down in his New York home. In 1848, his The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America is completed. Audubon died at the age of sixty-six on January 27, 1851.

Audubon is remembered as a talented painter and avid bird-watcher. He loved nature and wildlife, and that can be seen through his paintings. He also loved the American country and wilderness and is one of the few painters that set out to paint only American animals. His artwork should be cherished, especially paintings of the “Carolina Parrot” and the “Passenger Pigeon” as these birds are now extinct and one of the only memories we now have of them are Audubon’s paintings.

→ For more info on his life
→ View his Birds of America.
→ View his Quadrupeds of North America.

Really cute gorilla news!  Rare gorilla twin born.

http://gorilla.cd/blog/

Daily updates on the situation in the Congo and how its affecting the gorillas, the park, and the rangers. Check it out!

So I always wanted to know these, found it here:

aardvark:  aarmory
albatross:  rookery
alligator:  congregation
alpaca:  flock, herd
ant:  colony, nest, army, swarm, bike
antelope:  herd, cluster
ape:  shrewdness, troop
ass:  pace, drove, herd, coffle
auk:  colony, flock, raft
baboon:  troop, flange, congress, tribe
badger:  cete, colony, set, company
barracuda:  battery
bass:  shoal, fleet
bat:  colony, cloud
bear:  sleuth, sloth, slought, maul
beaver:  family, lodge, colony
bee:  colony, grist, hum, swarm, hive, cluster
beetle:  swarm
bird (general):  fleet, parcel, dissimulation, flight, volery, cast, flock, aviary
bison:  herd, troop, gang, thunder
bittern:  sedge, flock, siege
bloodhound:  sute
boar:  singular, sounder, herd
bovine:  herd
buffalo:  gang, troop, herd, obstinacy
bullfinch:  bellowing
bullock:  drove
butterfly:  rabble, flight, swarm
buzzard:  wake, flock
camel:  flock, train, caravan, herd
caribou:  herd
cat:  clowder, clutter, pounce, cluster, colony, glorying, destruction (wild cats)
caterpillar:  army, nest
cattle:  drove, herd, bow, bunch, draft, drift, mob
cheetah:  coalition
chicken:  brood, clutch, flock, peep, hatching, battery
chimpanzee:  cartload
chinchilla:  colony
clam:  bed, flaccidity
cockroach:  intrusion, swarm
cod:  lap, school
colt:  rake, rage
coot:  cover
cow:  herd, drove, pack, team
coyote:  pack, rout
crab:  cast
crane:  sedge, siege, flock, herd
cricket:  orchestra
crocodile:  bask, nest, congregation, float
crow:  murder, horde, parcel, hover, muster

deer:  herd, leash, bevy, game, quarry, bunch, mob, parcel
dog:  gang, legion, kennel, pack (wild), litter (young)
dolphin:  team, school, pod, herd
donkey:  drove, herd, pace
dove:  dule, duet, flight, troop
duck:  brace, flock, gaggle, paddling, team, raft, badling, bunch, waddling
eagle:  convocation, brood, aerie
eel:  swarm, bed. draft, wisp, knot
elephant:  herd, host, flock, parade, memory
elk:  gang, herd
falcon:  passager, cast
ferret:  business, cast
finch:  charm, chirm, trembling, trimming
fish (general):  school, shoal, draft, nest, cast, draught, run, catch, drift, haul
flamingo:  stand, flamboyance
fly:  business, hatch, swarm, community, cloud, grist
flying fish:  glide
fowl:  plump
fox:  leash, skulk, earth, troop
frog:  army, colony, froggery, knot
gerbil:  horde
giraffe:  tower, troop, corps, herd, group, stretch
gnat:  cloud, horde, swarm, plague
gnu:  herd
goat:  tribe, trip, flock, herd
goldfinch:  charm, chattering, drum, troubling, vein
goldfish:  troubling
goose:  flock, gaggle, skein, line, wedge, nide
gorilla:  band
grasshopper:  cloud, cluster
greyhound:  gallop, leash
grouse:  covey, pack, brace, drumming
guinea pig:  group
gull:  colony, pack
hamster:  horde
hare:  down, husk, leap, , leash, flick, kindle, drove, warren
hawk:  cast, kettle, boil, leash, mews, aerie
hedgehog:  nest, array, prickle
hen:  brood, battery, parcel, roost, mews
heron:  siege, sedge
herring:  army, glean, shoal
hippopotamuses:  bloat, pod, herd, huddle
hog:  drift, drove, herd
hornet:  nest, bike, swarm
horse:  harras, herd, pair, team, stud, field, mob, troop
hound:  cry, mute, pack, kennel
hummingbird:  charm, chattering, drum, hover, troubling
hyena:  cackle, clan
impala:  herd
jackrabbit:  husk
jellyfish:  smack, brood, smuth, smuck, fluther
kangaroo:  mob, troop, herd
kitten:  kindle, kendle, litter, intrigue
lark:  ascension, exaltation, bevy, flight
lemur:  group
leopard:  leap, prowl
lice:  flock
lion:  pride, tribe, sault, sowse
llama:  herd
locust:  host, plague, swarm, cloud
louse:  colony, infestation, lice
mackerel:  school, shoal
magpie:  tiding, gulp, murder, charm, tittering, flock
mallard:  sord, brace, puddling, flush
manatee:  herd
marten:  richness
minnow:  shoal, steam, swarm
mole:  labor, company, movement
monkey:  troop, barrel, tribe, cartload
moose:  herd
mosquito:  scourge, swarm
mouse:  nest, colony, harvest, horde, mischief
mule:  barren, pack, span, rake
nighthawk:  kettle
nightingale:  watch, flock, route, match
orangutan:  buffoonery
ostrich:  flock
otter:  romp, bevy, lodge, family, raft
owl:  parliament, stare
ox:  yoke, team, drove, herd, nye
oyster:  bed, hive, cast, culch
parrot:  company, flock, prattle
partridge:  covey, bew
peacock:  muster, ostentation, pride
penguin:  colony, rookery, parade, parcel
pheasant:  bouquet, nest, nide, nye, brood, covey
pig:  drove, litter, drift, flock, hoggery, herd, sounder
pigeon:  flight, loft, flock, dropping
plover:  congregation, wing, leash
polar bear:  aurora, pack
polecat:  chine
pony:  string
porcupine:  prickle, family
porpoise:  school, crowd, herd, pod
possum:  passel
prairie dog:  coterie, town
quail:  bevy, covey, drift
rabbit:  colony, nest, warren, bevy, bury, drove
racoon:  nursery, mask
raptor:  cauldron, kettle
rat:  horde, mischief, rabble
raven:  unkindness, congress, conspiracy, parliament
reindeer:  herd
rhinoceros:  crash, herd
rook:  building, shoal, congregation, pack, parliament
salmon:  run, bind, gib, school, shoal
sardine:  family
scorpion:  bed, nest, colony
sea horse:  herd
seal:  pod, herd, school, trip, rookery, harem, team
shark:  shiver, school, shoal
sheep:  drove, flock, herd, drift, fold, mob, pack, trip
skunk:  stench, surfeit
snail:  escargatoire, rout, walk
snake:  bed, knot, den, pit, nest, slither
snipe:  walk, wisp
sparrow:  host, flight, quarrel, tribe
spider:  cluster, clutter, venom
squirrel:  dray, scurry, colony
starling:  murmuration, cloud, chattering, clutter
stork:  mustering, flight
swallow:  flight, rush, swoop
swan:  bevy, wedge, flock, game, team, ballet, regatta
swine:  drift, sounder, herd
swordfish:  flotilla
termite:  colony
tiger:  streak, ambush, hide. ambush
toad:  knot, nest, knob, lump
tortoise:  creep
trout:  hover, leash, troup
turkey:  rafter, posse, gang, dole, flock, raffle
turtle:  bale, bevy, nest, dule, turn
turtle dove:  pitying
toucan:  durante
viper:  nest, den
vulture:  wake
wallaby:  mob
walrus:  pod, herd, huddle
wasp:  nest, knot, bike, swarm, colony, pail
weasel:  pack, gang, sneak
whale:  gam, herd, grind, pod, shoal, school, mob
wild boar:  sounder
wolf:  pack, rout, route, horde
wombat:  mob, warren
woodcock:  fall, covey, plump
woodpecker:  descent, gatling
worm:  bed, bunch, clew
wren:  herd
yak:  herd
zebra:  herd, cohorts, crossing, stripe

African Exodus

Scientists have long believed that humans originated in Africa. Ethiopia, to be exact, could be called our homeland. All the different types, shapes, and shades of people on Earth can trace their ancestry to African hunter-gathers 150,000 years ago. The evidence is in our DNA, right there in our bodies. Genetic mutations act as markers and can tell us our history. On the Y chromosome, all males share the same basic configuration, rooted in Africa. The marker M168 was carried out of Africa and is found on all non-African males. The diversity of genetic markers is greatest in Africa, which could only have arisen as DNA mutated over millenia. So you see, we are all African.

Part 1.
Time: 200,000 years ago
Where: Ethiopia
→ Most anthropologists and geneticists agree that modern humans arose about 200,000 years ago in Eastern Africa. The earliest modern human fossils were found in Omo Kibish, Ethiopia.

Part 2.
Time: 70,000-50,000 years ago
Where: Red Sea
→ A small group of modern humans left Africa for good (“Out of Africa II” model) between 70-50,000 years ago. All non-Africans are descendants of these travelers, who eventually replaced all earlier types of humans, including Neandertals. This exodus might have occurred around the top of the Red Sea or its narrow southern opening, bringing humans into the Middle East.

Part 3.
Time: 50,000 years ago
Where: Indonesia & Australia
→ Artifacts around 50,000 years old from two sites in Australia, Malakunanja and Lake Mungo, indicate that humans followed a coastal path along southern Asia and then island-hopped until reaching Australia. Their descendants, Australian Aborigines, remained genetically isolated on the island continent until the fairly recent colonization.

Part 4.
Time: 40,000-30,000 years ago
Where: Europe
→ It was assumed that humans migrated into Europe from North Africa. However, genetic data now shows that the DNA of today’s western Eurasians resembles that of people in India. In other words, Europe was populated by an inland migration from Asia only about 40,000 years ago.

Part 5.
Time: 40,000 years ago
Where: Asia
→ From the Middle East, humans pushed into Central Asia and arrived north of the Himalaya. Others traveled through Southeast Asia and China, eventually reaching Japan and Siberia.

Part 6.
Time: 20,000-15,000 years ago
Where: The Americas
→ Genetic evidence shows that humans in northern Asia eventually migrated into the Americas. 20,000 years ago, sea levels were low and land connected Siberia to mainland Alaska, allowing migration to occur. The travelers would have continued down the west coast into South America since ice sheets would have covered the interior of North America.

Source: Shreeve, James. “The Greatest Journey.” National Geographic Mar 2006: 61-69.
Related Article: Austro-Asiatic tribes of Northeast India provide hitherto missing genetic link between South and Southeast Asia.

Brief Lexicon of Animal & Nature Deities

The lexicon section is a list of a very few selected gods, goddesses, and spirits associated with nature and animals. As you can see, many different cultures have their own ways of deifying animals and personifying nature.

Ancient Eygpt
The ancient Eyptians greatly revered various animals. They thought that some of their gods and goddesses represented themselves by a specific animal. Honoring that animal was thought to please the god or goddess, so these animals lived pampered lives themselves!

BABOON » the dog-headed baboon was one of the manifestations of both Thoth, the god of writing, and Khonsu, the moon god. Hapy, the son of Horus, a god that guarded the canopic jars, had the head of a baboon as well.
CAT » Many deities were depicted as cats, so these animals were seen as benevolent and sacred. Bast, the goddess of love and fertility, was a cat, and was Ra.
CATTLE » Symbolized the mother of the Pharoah and also female fertility. The god Osiris was related to the bull.
COBRA » The cobra goddess Renenutet was a fertility goddess who was sometimes depicted as nursing children and as protector of pharaoh. Another cobra goddess was Meretseger, who could punish criminals with blindness or her venom.
CROCODILE » Ammut, the demoness at the judgement hall, had the head of a crocodile along with other fearful creatures, and was known as ‘the devourer of the dead’ who punished evildoers by eating their hearts.
FALCON/HAWK » The sacred bird of Horus. The falcon had protective powers and was regarded as royalty, often hovering over the Pharaoh’s head.
FROG » Because the Egyptians saw that there were many frogs, all appearing from the Nile, they associated the frog with fertility and resurrection.
HERON » Thought to be the original phoenix – it was a bird of the sun and rebirth.
IBIS » Regarded as the reincarnation of Thoth, the ibis was sacred to the god of knowledge, who had the form of an ibis-headed man.
JACKAL » Associated with Anubis, the god of embalming and mummification, who was depicted as a black coloured jackal (or dog) or a man with the head of a black jackal or dog. Also, one of the gods who gaurded the canopic jars was jackal-headed.
LION » The lion was connected with the rising and the setting of the sun, and so were thought to be guardians of the horizon and were linked to solar deities. Other deities included war and love gods.
PIG » Sacred to Set, god of chaos.
SCARAB BEETLE » Personified as the sun god, much like how a scarab beetle pushes dung in a ball, so the sun god pushes the sun across the sky.
SNAKE & TURTLE » Associated with darkness and evil and the underworld.
VULTURE » Sacred to Mut, mother goddess. The vulture often holds the symbol of eternity in its talons, offering eternal protection to the pharaoh. As such, the vulture is closely linked to rulership.

(source: Animals & the Gods of Egypt)

Greek Mythology
The gods and goddesses of Olympus had animals that symbolized themselves, and therefore, these animals were associated with the trait that the god had. Unlike Egyptian mythology, the Greek gods did not turn into their animal as an avatar (although some gods could turn into various animals). There were also various nature spirits & lesser deities associated with animals.

ZEUS » He governed the seasons, caused thunder and lightening, and other weather by hitting his aegis (shield) made from the skin of Amaltheia, the she-goat that raised him. Zeus’s sacred animal was the eagle, so it was thought of as kingly.
HERA » Her sacred animals included the peacock (the symbol of pride; her wagon was pulled by peacocks) and the cow. The crow and the pomegranate (symbol of marriage) are also dedicated to her.
POSEIDON » This god of the seas was characterized by horses (symbol of revenge and earthquakes), dolphins, and fish.
ATHENA » Her sacred animal was the owl; symbolized wisdom and learning.
ARTEMIS » Artemis is the goddess of the wilderness, the hunt and wild animals, and fertility. She is often associated with wild boars, bears, deer, and other animals of the forest. She is also seen with her accompanying band of nymphs.
APOLLO » The twin brother of Artemis, Apollo is the youthful god of light, archery, medicine, music, and prophecy. Sacred to him are the swan (one legend says that Apollo flew on the back of a swan to the land of the Hyperboreans where he would spend the winter months among them), the wolf, and the dolphin.
DEMETER & PERSEPHONE » Demeter was the harvest goddess, who brought forth the fruits and grains of the earth. Her daughter Persephone was the goddess of the Underworld and, consequently, of the seasons. When Hades abducted Persephone, he made her stay part of the year with him, and the other part back on earth with her mother. When she was gone, Demeter was grieved and caused no harvest (winter) and when Persephone was back on earth, Demeter was happy and caused a good harvest (summer).
FLORA » The goddess of blossoming flowers and spring. The festival of the Floralia, celebrated on April 28 -May 1, existed until the 4th century AD.
EOS » The winged goddess of dawn who flew her chariot across the sky. Her brother Helios was the sun god.
GAIA » The mother earth goddess; she was earth itself, having been born out of Chaos and gave birth to many offspring including the Titans. She blessed the world with her fertility and abundance.
NYMPHS » Usually benign and sweet spirits. Personified as young maidens that were helpful and healing, nurturing flowers, fruits, and mortals. But sometimes they could lead unsuspecting men into the water to be never seen again. The Naiads were water nymphs that dwelt beside running water. Dryads were forest nymphs which inhabited trees, nereids and oceanids were nymphs of the oceans, and Oreads dwelt in the hills and mountains. Most nymphs were free-spritied maidens who loved nature and didn’t care for marriage.
WIND GODS » Notus, the south wind; Zephyrus, the west wind and protector of plants; Boreas, the north wind; and Eurus, the east wind.

Various Deities, Spirits, & Creatures
A collection of other animal-related deities from a variety of pantheons.

Kodamas » Benign nature spirits in Shinto (Japan) that resided in forests.
Kappa » In Japanese Shinto-religion, they are water spirits who pull little children into the water and drown them, and attack and fight travelers and animals.
Tengu » Tormenting spirits from Japanese folklore. These bogeymen, with their long noses and beaks, live in mountains and forests and are especially after children.
Mokos » Goddess of the earth worshipped by the ancient Slavs.
Coatlicue » The Aztec earth goddess of life and death, mother of the gods, and mother of the stars of the southern sky.
Vanir » In Norse myth, the Vanir are originally a group of wild nature and fertility gods and goddesses, the sworn enemies of the warrior gods of the Aesir. They were considered to be the bringers of health, youth, fertility, luck and wealth, and masters of magic.
Faeries » Little folk with magical powers that often blessed newborns, but could also be mischievious and meddle in human affairs. Fairies live in the forest amongst the trees, and often protect the natural world. They can only be seen by animals and very few humans. During a full moon on Midsummer Eve, a mortal may witness fairy dances or celebrations.
Centaurs » Creatures with the body of a horse and the torso of a man. Centaurs are usually rowdy and untamed, roaming the forests and kidnapping women. They were associated with Dionysus in greek mythology.
Satyrs » In Greek mythology the satyrs are deities of the woods and mountains. They are half human and half beast; they usually have a goat’s tail, flanks and hooves. While the upper part of the body is that of a human, they also have the horns of a goat. They are the companions of Dionysus, the god of wine, and they spent their time drinking, dancing, and chasing nymphs.
Pegasus » A winged horse in greek mythology; the hero Bellerophon often rode Pegasus.
Unicorns » A legendary creature in many cultures, the unicorn is a white horse with a single spiraling horn atop its head. The horn, is said, is believed to possess healing abilities. Dust filed from the horn was thought to protect against poison, and many diseases. It could even resurrect the dead.
Dragons » Also known as wurm, wyrm, firewyrm, and firedrake, dragons are popular in many cultures. They are usually seen as giant lizard-like creatures breathing flames of fire. They hoard their gold in caves and kill anyone who goes near it.
Minotaur » This creature had the head and tail of a bull on the body of a man. It lived in a labyrinth and was sacrificed 7 young men and maidens once a year.
Hippocampus » In greek mythology, this creature resembled a horse with the hind parts of a fish or dolphin. The chariot of Poseidon was drawn by a hippocampus.
Griffon » Creature with the head, beak and wings of an eagle, the body of a lion and occasionally the tail of a serpent or scorpion. Griffon pcitures were used as gargoyles on medieval churches.

(Source: Encyclopedia Mythica)

(originally written for my Evolutionary Theory class)

Evolution of Bipedalism in Hominids

“We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities… still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.”
– Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871)

Humans are unique in the animal kingdom as being the only habitual terrestrial biped built for upright walking. Homo sapiens were not alone, however; a diversity of bipedal hominids thrived before us. Being adapted to bipedal movement changed the morphological structure and even behavior of these early hominids, but why did certain species make the transition to bipedal movement? There are many theories as to the origins of bipedalism and the reasons that led these hominids to walk upright. From examining the fossil record and modern primate behavior and anatomy, insights on the evolution of bipedalism can be uncovered.

In the 18th century, noted taxonomist and naturalist Carolus Linnaeus recognized the relationship between humans and apes. In his Systema Naturae, published in 1736, he was the first to place humans together with other primates in a group he named Anthropomorpha (Lewin 1999:2). He considered that the great apes were the closest living relatives of humans based on morphological similarity. The idea of the biological evolution of the human species was not legitimized until Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, even though he did not specifically address human evolution. In 1864, Darwin’s friend Thomas Henry Huxley published a book entitled Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature. The book was based on evidence from comparative anatomy among apes and humans in which he concluded that humans shared a close evolutionary relationship with the great apes (Lewin 1999:2). By this time, scientists were aware of past human ancestors due to the discovery of Neanderthal bones in Germany in 1856. However, it was not until 1924 when the first hominid fossils were found in Africa. The Taung skull, discovered in a cave deposit in South Africa, was the first fossil to provide evidence for bipedal movement in hominids. The anthropologist and anatomist Raymond Dart described the skull as being a unique species of early human, Australopithecus africanus. The remains consisted of a small skull with the position of the foramen magnum at the base of the skull indicating bipedal movement.

The Earliest Known Hominoids
Australopithecus africanus lived around 3.9 millions years ago and was considered to be fully bipedal. The evolution of bipedalism began much earlier, however, with the early Miocene apes who where creatures of the tropical and subtropical forests. Around 22 million years ago, the split between the lesser apes and great apes (including humans) is thought to have occurred. The supposed last common ancestor before this split is the Miocene ape Proconsul africanus (Lewin 1999:89). This ape was an arboreal quadruped that had a mixture of both ape and monkey characteristics, including opposable thumbs (suggesting manipulative skills) but no tail. It moved on all four legs and its thorax was narrow and deep, a characteristic seen in pronograde (body horizontal to the ground) monkeylike locomotion, while the shoulder and elbow regions were apelike (90). By 13 millions years ago, Miocene apes were still quadrupedal and living in trees. Pierolapithecus, discovered in 2002, could possibly be the last common ancestor of humans and great apes. The partial skeleton displayed an orthograde posture (upright posture with the body more vertical to the ground) as an adaptation to vertical climbing and suspending the body from vertical branches (Moyà-Solà et al. 2004). The Dryopithecus species, an ape that lived around 9.5 million years ago, had long arms and short legs and appeared similar to modern day orangutans, which hang from branches and move slowly through them (Arsuaga & Martinez 1998:33). The postcranial anatomy of Dryopithecus reflects a more orthograde posture than seen in other Miocene apes because, for example, the lumbar vertebrae are shorter, the arms are more powerful and the hands are larger (Lewin 1999:91).

The chimpanzee-human split is believed to have occurred approximately 7 millions years ago with the last common ancestor being Sahelanthropus tchadensis, an ape with an anteriorly placed foramen magnum that may suggest bipedalism, although it is still debated (Brunet et al. 2002). After this split, the branch that led to modern day chimpanzees became more specialized in climbing trees with a bent knee posture while human ancestors began to develop bipedal movement. One of the earliest human ancestors after this split was Orrorin tugenensis, a hominid that lived 6 million years ago. It was discovered in 2000 in Kenya and its find is significant because it represents the earliest hominid species with evidence of bipedal movement (Pickford & Senut 2001). These findings now suggest that bipedalism may have arisen during the chimpanzee-human split, which is much earlier than previously assumed.

The Orrorin fossils found consisted of a femur that suggests it walked upright, a humerus shaft suggesting tree-climbing but not brachiation (a form of arboreal locomotion that involves swinging from branch to branch using only the arms), and the presence of the obturator externus groove on the femur that indicates bipedal movement since the obturator externus muscle is important in bipedal locomotion and originates in the pubis region of the pelvis and inserts into the trochanteric fossa of the femur. The Orrorin findings support the theory that the origins of bipedalism occurred in an arboreal precursor living in a forest and not a quadrupedal ancestor living in open country. It was traditionally assumed that bipedalism arose 4 million years ago in the Pliocene with Ardipithecus and Australopithecus; however, the recent finds of Orrorin seem to disagree with that view. The hominid Ardipithecus ramidus lived around 4.4 million years ago in a forested habitat and habitually walked upright, from evidence of its foramen magnum, femur fragments, and its toe structure. It appears A. ramidus was a forest-dweller because many of the types of mammals with which the hominid was found were also forest-dwellers (colobus monkeys and antelopes). Also, the outer layer of enamel on the teeth is thin and similar to chimpanzees, which eat fruit, leaves, shoots, and other plant products, so the conclusion has been that the first hominids lived in forests (Arsuaga & Martinez 1998:51-53). Since A. ramidus lived in the forests rather than open grasslands, it poses problems with some theories that suggest bipedalism arose in the savannah.

The australopithecines were hominids that lived in Africa between 2-4 million years ago and are thought to be fully terrestrial bipeds. Fossil evidence from australopithecines also supports the view that bipedalism predated large brains since australopithecines had small brains. Even though australopithecines were bipedal, they still exhibited adaptations to tree climbing, and some researchers support the view that they were partially arboreal and may not have had a full striding gait, but more of a bent-knee posture similar to chimpanzees (Lerwin 1999:106). The curvature in the phalanges reflects their ability to grasp and climb branches. A cranially orientated shoulder joint, shorter hind limbs, long arms, and a greater mobility in the wrist also supports the notion that australopithecines had arboreal adaptations (106). The evidence that strongly suggests bipedalism consists of the pelvis, femur, and feet. The iliac blades of the pelvis are far wider and shorter much like humans, in contrast to chimpanzees, which have longer and narrower blades. The sacrum is wide and positioned directly behind the hip joint and there is evidence of a strong attachment for the knee extensors. The femur also angles in toward the knee, which would have allowed the foot to fall closer to the midline of the body, a trait of habitual bipedal movement. The foot also features a big toe parallel with the others, making it difficult for grasping branches. It is probable their upright gait was similar to modern humans since it would have been more efficient than bent-knee walking, and the Laetoli footprints indicate an arch in the foot and no opposable big toe (Sellers et al. 2005).

Origins of Bipedalism
It is clear that many primate species had lived successfully in the trees, so why would a certain species risk changing its behavior and become bipedal? Various selective pressures have been suggested as to why early hominids made the transition to bipedalism, such as the need to carry objects and offspring, increased energy efficiency, to reduce the amount of skin exposed to the sun, predator avoidance, acquiring new food, or responses to climate changes (Lewin 1999:93). If bipedalism did occur during the chimpanzee-human split, then it is proposed that human ancestors made the transition to upright walking while chimpanzee and gorilla predecessors adapted to arboreal movement. The quadrupedal to bipedal transformation may also not be as dramatic as it may appear, since primates are not true quadrupeds in that their body posture is often upright, such as in tree-climbing, and chimpanzees and gorillas knuckle-walk and exhibit a slight upright posture, although with bent-knees (Lewin 1999:94-95). The great apes walk upright with bent knees and flexing the hips because of differences in the pelvis. In humans, we have abductor muscles that keep the pelvis vertical and balanced when we take strides. However, in chimpanzees, their muscle fibers are oriented toward the back so to keep from falling when walking upright, they must shift their trunk forward to support themselves (Arsuaga & Martinez 1998:67-68).

There are basically two general views on the origin of bipedalism in hominids: the ancestor was a terrestrial knuckle-walker or a species living in the trees that adopted a vertical posture (Lewin 1999:81). From these two perspectives, numerous hypotheses for the origins of bipedalism have been developed including the postural feeding hypotheses, the provisioning model, behavioral models, thermoregulatory model, carrying model, savannah hypothesis, aquatic ape hypothesis, and the squat-feeding hypothesis. However, a number of forces may have acted together so these hypotheses should not be considered mutually exclusive.

The postural feeding hypothesis suggested by Hunt (1996) asserts that arboreal food gathering and vertical climbing influenced anatomy. Modern chimpanzee behavior indicates chimps are bipedal when gathering food: on the ground they reach up for fruit and in trees they grab overhead branches. Movements coevolved with chimpanzee arm-hanging, as it was efficient in gathering food, and it has been discovered that A. afarensis had similar features for arm-hanging in the hand and shoulder inferring australopithecine adaptation to arboreal bipedal fruit gathering.

There are a variety of behavioral models that suggest that specific changes in behavior were the driving force for bipedalism (Lewin 1999:93), including sexual selection, escape from predators, and bipedal threat displays (Jablonski & Chaplin1993), although these tend to be circumstantial theories with no traces in the fossil record. Many support theories involving the need for carrying objects that drove the change to bipedalism since chimpanzees are known walk upright and carry tools, although only for very short distances. However, if bipedalism arose around 7 million years ago, then it predates tool-use by as much as 4 million years (Lewin 1999:96). Also, hominids at this time were primarily gathering food, not hunting, so gathering food may have contributed to bipedalism.

The provisioning model proposed by Lovejoy (1981) incorporated the carrying model with behavior, suggesting that bipedality was a response to monogamous society. Hominid males would leave their mate and search for food in order to ensure the female would have enough nutrition and bear more offspring. The only efficient way to bring back food was to be bipedal. However, there is evidence against monogamy in hominids. Sexual dimorphism is reduced in monogamous primates but in australopithecines, males were much larger than females. Also, monogamous primates are territorial but A. afarensis were thought to live in groups (Stanford 2003:113).

The savannah hypothesis is based on the climate changes that occurred in east Africa that caused openings in the forest and so a mixture of savannah and scattered woods may have forced hominids to travel between clusters of trees and bipedalism offered greater efficiency for slow, long-distance travel between these clusters (Stanford 2003:95). Hominids would have had to travel relatively long distances while carrying objects, thus making qudrupedalism extremely inefficient.

The thermoregulatory model (Wheeler 1991) suggests that since bipedalism causes increased heat loss and cooling, reduced heat gain and water requirements, it was a selective force in tropical climates. Being bipedal allows an individual to be higher above ground, with more access to winds and a vertical posture that allows less body to be directly exposed to the sun. However, some evidence disagrees with the thermoregulatory model, such as how australopithecines lived in wooded and well-watered environments and would not have directly needed protection from the sun. Bipedalism was well established before the dramatic change in African ecology and before the longer leg length as seen in Homo species. Therefore, Homo species were probably more adapted to the savannah than australopithecines; so living in the savannah was a later adaptation and not a driving force for bipedalism (Stanford 2003:96).

The aquatic ape hypothesis is a speculative theory in which Morgan (1997) claims that bipedalism arose as a result from bipedal wading and provided the advantage of keeping the head above water for breathing. According to this theory, hominids lived close to water, gathering much of their food in or near the water and adapting new modes of locomotion in order to move and gather food in the water. Morgan cites our relative hairlessness, increased subcutaneous fat and sebaceous glands as changes in anatomy. However, all of these claims can be attributed to other purposes and there has been no fossil evidence of hominids suggesting they were found in water (Stanford 1999:109). A hypothesis proposed by Kingdon claims that foraging on the ground in a squatting position demanded the necessary modifications to culminate bipedal walking, since it allowed the feet to change from being graspers to platforms in order to have a steady stance (2003:19).

Walking Upright
Primates constitute a very homogeneous set of species in terms of ecological adaptations, such as living in humid tropical forests, in mountain regions, or on the open savannah, and are varied in terms of their diet. Having evolved in the trees, modern primates, including humans, all share unique arboreal features such as the ability to grasp and climb branches, having a large big toe as opposed to the other toes, flat nails on the digits of the hands and feet instead of claws, and flexible shoulders that suggest a protobrachiator ancestor (Arsuaga & Martinez 1998:18-19). When great apes walk on the ground, they generally move on all four limbs but their trunk does not become horizontal like in other quadrupeds; instead it slopes downward and they support themselves on the backside of their phalanges (knuckle-walking). The great apes also move bipedally in trees, grasping branches with their arms and walking on their hind limbs (26).

Adaptations to bipedalism include several skeletal changes: a vertically held head, shortened forelimbs, short and wide pelvis, increased hind limb length, increased valgus angle of the knee, hands with enlarged thumbs but non-curving fingers, platform feet with non-opposable big toes in line with the other non-curved toes, a curved lower spine, extensible knee joints, and a foramen magnum moved toward the center of the basicranium (Lewin 1999:81). The valgus angle of the femur provides the femur to angle in toward the knee so the foot can be placed underneath the center of gravity while striding. The valgus angle is apparent in australopithecines while the great apes have no angle (95). The foot in hominids is designed as a walking platform to support weight rather than act as a grasping structure as in other apes. The big toe is non-opposable and the foot has an arch to transmit weight from the heel, along the outside of the foot, to the big toe. The foramen magnum (opening at base of skull through which the spinal cord enters the cranium) is located toward the center of the cranium as opposed to the back as in apes because the skull is perched atop a vertical spine in a biped (96).

A New Kind of Hominid
The advantages to bipedalism caused hominids to adapt to a new niche; it encouraged hominids to use this opportunity to acquire new food and travel long distances. In order for bipedalism to have become successful, it had to affect the daily lives of hominids, such as finding food and mating (Stanford 2003:115). Since other animal species obviously must avoid predators and also adapted to changing African environments without becoming bipedal, something important triggered and benefited these hominids into walking upright. Foraging and acquiring food is one of the most important influences on behavioral and anatomical changes (Standford 2003:128). By being the most advantageous way for certain hominids to acquire food, bipedalism acted as an evolutionary pressure on these hominids to become successful in their environment. Early hominids probably lived in a variety of habitats and bipedal walking would not have been beneficial in all settings, just in forested areas where fruits grow in abundance on the ground and in small trees, or where forest clusters are separated (137).

Walking upright caused hominids to free their arms and be able to use them as manipulative structures in gathering food. Upright walking also proves to be more energy efficient than knuckle-walking and would have been beneficial in exploiting resources that demanded a more energy-efficient mode of travel (Lewin 1999:96). Bipedalism would eventually lead to behavioral changes, such as prolonging childhood since infants had to be carried since they lost their ability to grasp on by themselves, and perhaps changes in social structure, since caring for infants limited the mother’s ability to care for herself and needed support from others.

Current research has favored the idea that bipedalism evolved as a particular way of getting food in trees (Stanford 1999:120). Since it is now known that early hominids lived in forests and not the grasslands, they did not have to adapt to changes in the environment. Bipedalism offered an advantageous and energy efficient way of acquiring fruit in trees by moving on two legs and hanging by their arms for balance, and findings based on Orrorin fossils support this idea that bipedalism arose in an arboreal setting. The short lower limbs and broad pelvis of early bipedal australopithecines are arboreal adaptations, not terrestrial, as are long forelimbs enabling greater access to food and facilitating arm-hanging. Research on orangutan behavior also supports an arboreal origin since orangutans extend their legs at the knee and hip to give them a straighter posture in order to reach fruit (Thorpe et al. 2007).

The Downside of Being Bipedal
Evolutionary trade-offs existed from the switch to bipedal movement. As it gained energy efficiency from striding, bipedalism caused hominids to lose their efficiency for climbing. The changes in the pelvis caused the birth canal to dramatically narrow and the head of the newborn must twist in order to exit the birth canal, making the mother unable to see her newborn’s face and assisted childbirth beneficial (Stanford 2003:53-56). Some features of the human skeleton are poorly adapted to bipedalism; human joints are forced to support weight for which they were not originally designed for, now that the body’s full weight is on two legs rather than four. This leads to joint problems and also back pains due to lumbar lordosis, a curve in the spine for support and stability but can result in lower back problems (56-57).

In conclusion, bipedalism has a complicated evolutionary history, mainly due to lack of fossil evidence. Many advantages to bipedalism are apparent but the ones that were most influential to hominids will be difficult to undercover. Current research favors the arboreal origin, with acquiring food as the primary motivator for bipedal movement. New findings of even older bipedal hominids (Orrorin) suggest that our understanding of bipedalism is still being questioned. Views are constantly changing and bipedalism is no longer considered to have occurred around 4 million years ago, but actually much earlier. Knuckle-walking predecessors are no longer in favor, as is attributing bipedal walking to changes in habitat. New discoveries remain to be seen where it will take the origins of bipedalism.

References Cited:
Arsuaga, Juan Luis and Ignacio Martinez. 1998. The Choosen Species. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Brunet, Michel, et al. 2002. A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa. Nature 418:145-151.

Hunt, Kevin D. 1996. The postural feeding hypothesis: an ecological model for the evolution of bipedalism. South African Journal of Science 92:77-90.

Jablonski, N.G. and G. Chaplin 1993. Origin of habitual terrestrial bipedalism in the ancestor of the Hominidae. Journal of Human Evolution 24:259-80.

Kingdon, Jonathan 2003. Lowly Origin: Where, When, and Why Our Ancestors First Stood Up. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Lewin, Roger 1997. Bones of contention: controversies in the search for human origins. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

—————- 1999. Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Sciences.

Lewin, R., Swisher, C., Celso, C., and Garniss, H. 2000. Java man: how two geologists’ dramatic discoveries changed our understanding of the evolutionary path to modern humans. New York: Scribner.

Lovejoy, Owen 1981. The Origins of Man. Science 211:341-348.

Morgan, Elaine 1997. The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. London: Souvenir Press.

Moyà-Solà, Salvador, Meike Köhler, David M. Alba, Isaac Casanovas-Vilar, and Jordi Galindo 2004. Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, a New Middle Miocene Great Ape from Spain. Science 306:1339-1344.

Pickford, M. and Senut, B. 2001. ‘Millennium ancestor’, a 6-million-year-old bipedal hominid from Kenya. South African Journal of Science 97. 1-2: 22.

Sellers, WI, Cain, G., Wang W.J. and Crompton, R.H. 2005. Stride lengths, speed and energy costs in walking of Australopithecus afarensis: using evolutionary robotics to predict locomotion of early human ancestors. J. R. Soc. Interface 2:431–441.

Stanford, Craig 2003. Upright: The Evolutionary Key to Becoming Human. New York: Houghton-Mifflin.

Thorpe, SKS, Holder, R and Crompton, RH. 2007. Origin of human bipedalism as an adaptation for locomotion on flexible branches. Science 316:1328-1331

Wheeler, P. E., 1991. The thermoregulatory advantages of hominid bipedalism in open equatorial environments: the contribution of increased convective heat loss and cutaneous evaporative cooling. Journal of Human Evolution 21:107-115.

Happy Earth Day! A good website to check out is earthday.net. But remember, Earth Day is Every Day!

How to Celebrate Earth Day
The celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd began in the United States in 1970 and was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson, who had long pondered about finding a way to “put the environment into the political ‘limelight’ once and for all”.
1. Plant Trees
2. Make nature crafts
3. Reduse, reuse, recycle
4. Recycle or donate used items (toys, books, etc)
5. Pick up litter
6. Attend an Earth Day Fair
7. Cook an organic Earth Day meal
8. Listen to “Earth” or nature songs.
9. Engage in conversations about environmental concerns.
10. Teach others about the environment

…more info. And check out Yahoo! Green.

Mythical Beasts: Monsters or Real Animals?

Throughout time, animals have made a presence in various legends as strange, mythical beasts that often were dangerous to humans. Some were man-eaters, with parts of several animals, and some were gigantic with special powers to make them menacing and hideous. Every culture had their own “monster”, the creature that lurked in the forest, lake, or cave after dark and hunted humans. But these creatures were just myths. Or were they? Maybe there was some connection between these mythical monsters and real animals.

Pre-Historic Fears
» Perhaps the reason why people have mythicized certain animals is because of our close proximity with them. In earlier times, back when these myths were created, people lived right among wild animals such as bears, wolves, lion, and tigers. It was dangerous to be out alone while these animals were roaming. Creating mythical monsters was a way of making people careful to stay away from dangerous predators. This fear of being hunted goes back even further, to the days of our hominid ancestors. These hominids not only hunted for food, but were also possibly prey for leopards. In fact, many of the early hominid fossils were found in caves where the bones had been dropped from the trees where leopards carried their kill. Our early ancestors (by early I mean approx. 200,000 years ago) had the fear of being hunted for food. They feared the dark because that was when these predators would attack. This fear has not left our genes, and we are still afraid of dark places for no apparent reason. No animals naturally hunt us for food now, but we still fear the unexpected chance that maybe some creature is lurking in the dark. This fear, which helped our ancestors to survive, now creates mythical creatures and stories. Even in present day, many people still live right beside wild predators. Tribal peoples of Africa, India, and Asia, all have their own traditional religion which includes scary animal-like beasts that attack people. Perhaps this is to protect people from being killed by lions, leopards, or tigers, which frequently stalk these peoples’ villages.

From Dragons to Unicorns
» There are many famous monsters present in stories. But are there any real zoological basis to these creatures? Could they in fact be real animals that just became mythicized? In the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, for example, Grendel was a hideous and vicious beast that killed and ate men. Beowulf was sent by Hrothgar King of the Danes to slay the beast – a classic example of heroism associated with mythical beasts. Beowulf did in fact slay the beast, and also the mother of the beast. But just what exactly was Grendel?? Maybe a cannibalistic humanoid? Well he is described as being large, with talons and claws, so he is probably more beast than human. Actually the story of Grendel might have been inspired by another mammal — the Cave Bear (Ursus spelaeus). This bear is now exctinct, but survived in Britain until A.D. 1200 and Scandinavia until the Middle Ages. The fossils remains of this large ursid, even though it was a herbivore, might have led to some scary mythmaking by the people of the region. In fact, Beowulf’s name is ‘bee-wolf’, the word for ‘bear’ in Anglo-Saxon.
» Dragons, on the other hand, are no bears. They are large, reptilian creatures with flames as breath. Various cultures had stories about these creatures. In the Orient, dragons were mainly thought of as good and graceful creatures, symbolizing renewal, wisdom, and enlightenment. However, in Europe, dragons were violent, greedy, and harmful monsters. In Austria, one ancient legend in a riverside town held that the floods and drownings suffered there where caused by a dragon that lived nearby. Onward came the paladin Knights, who tied a bull to the end of a chain to lure the dragon out, and slayed the dragon. In the 14th century, fossil evidence of this ‘dragon’ was found as a cranial fragment from some skull. The fossil was put on display at the town hall as a remnant of the conquered dragon. Then, in 1840, a visiting paleontologist recognized it as the cranium of an extinct wooly rhinoceros. Oops. I guess that wasn’t a dragon afterall. There actually is a real-life, rather large reptilian dragon that does exist. Its only found on the island of Komodo. This monitor lizard, commonly called the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), might have inspired a couple of dragon stories when western travelers found bone remains or perhaps even saw one. These lizards have been known to attack and eat humans, although not regularly. Of course, dragon stories in Europe have been around before any traveler made it to Komodo, but it still could have lead people to believe dragons existed. That heroic Saint George was supposed to have killed a dragon, right? Actually, if he did exist, he probably killed a crocodile. In some accounts, Saint George slayed a dragon in Libya, where the creature lived in a lake or marsh and emerged to prey on sheep. Very similar to a crocodile.
» Greece, as you might know, had many mythical creatures, both odd and interesting. There are flying horses, minotaurs, Medusa, the Hydra, the Sphinx, chimeras, griffons, harpies, sirens, centaurs, satyrs…the list could go on. Now, I’m sure most of these were out of the imagination of Greeks, but some were recorded as being real animals. Rememeber the Roman, Pliny? He said basilisks were real. The Greek traveler, Aristeas of Proconnesus (700s B.c.) wrote about gold-gaurding griffons when he traveled to Scythia, a region that is now Ukraine and southern Russia. The Roman scholar Aelian reported that griffons were a quadruped (four-legged) like a lion, that it had claws of enormous strength, white wings, black feathers, and a beak like an eagle’s. A classical folklorist, Adrienne Mayor, deduced that the griffon legend may have originated from fossils of ceratopsian dinosaurs, since their fossils were found in Scythian gold-mines. These dinosaur fossils, which had beaked faces, might have been combined with bones from eagles, lions, and tigers, known to be living in Scythia in that time. Also, chimeras (fire-breathing lion/snake/goat hyrbid) and sphinxes (women-faced lions who ate people that couldn’t answer riddles) are similarly associated with lions. Perhaps there were rogue lions running around Greece, occasionally snacking on people.
» Unicorns, the beautiful one-horned horses representing purity. They were first described by the Greek physician Ctesias 2,000years ago. According to Ctesias, the unicorn was native to India. It was the size of a donkey, with a red head, white body, blue eyes, and a single horn on its head that was white at the base, black in the middle, and red at the tip. Its horn could be used in a potion to protect people from all sorts of poisons. The Roman naturalist Pliny (again!), wrote about unicorns in his Naturalis Historia. He added new details describing the unicorn as having a deer’s head, elephant’s feet, a boar’s tail, and a 3-foot long black horn. People have suggested that Pliny was actually describing an Indian rhinoceros, or perhaps a sighting of two-horned ungulates such as goats or ibex that were viewed from a profile or had a horn missing.
» As an added footnote, many of the animals that created mythical beasts were common in those regions in that time. Lions, leopards, and cave bears lived throught Europe including Greece and Macedonia. Lions, tigers, and leopards were also very common in India and Asia. However, these animals are now extinct in these regions (a very small group of lions now live in India). Perhaps killed from fear, or due to human population rises, in either case these animals, not the monsters, are only remembered in myths.

The Reasons for Mythical Beasts
In conclusion, mythical beasts are a fantastical glimsp into what the human mind can create by using imagination and real-life animals. These animals have inspired so many amazing stories, legends, and heroes. Here is a summary of some of the reasons why I think mythical beasts have been inportant throught time:
1. Our ancestors invented stories in order to protect themselves and their relatives from being killed by predators.
2. Therefore, this lead to a greater survival rate amongst peoples with a culture/mythology.
3. Stories of mythical beasts created a religion and belief system, which led to rituals, practices, prayers, and legends (a culture).
4. These stories created heroes that people admired and tried to live up to. They inspired children to become chivalrous and protect their homeland when in danger.
5. These stories also established morals. It taught people that mythical beasts, which are violent and greedy, are bad and the heroes that kill them are good. It taught people to value honor over greed.
6. This also led to, unfortunately, the bad reputations some animals get (like bears and wolves) and encourages people to hunt them.

References:
Quammen, David. 2003. Monster of God. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Mayor, Adrienne. 2000. The First Fossil Hunters. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univ Press.