Talk:Centaur/@comment-28856683-20160615213617/@comment-27950421-20170119155318

Anywho, the manticore myth was inspired by greeks hearing stories about tigers from India. It was referred to as having the body of a lion because that was the only big cat of comparable size known to the ancient greeks. Of course the stories about it ended up being a bit altered, hence why manticores in myth were described as lions with the faces of men, teeth like sharks, the wings of a bat and a scorpions tail with a dozens of stingers that they could fling with perfect accuracy. The Manticores insatiable appetite for human flesh was inspired by the fact that tigers are more willing to hunt humans than lions are and the stories about elephants being immune to the manticores venom and used to hunt manticores were caused by the fact that people in India hunt tigers from the backs of elephants.

A similar thing happened in China over the Giraffe, causing the myth of the Kirin to be born.