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Griffon Gryphon: Fantasy Creature Naming Conventions
Before starting this blog, I spent several years working as either an educator or animal keeper at a few different zoos and aquariums. Shocker, I know. In that career, I learned all kinds of animal names: from the eighteen different species of penguin, to the impressive variety of names for a single skink species, to…
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Breathing Fire and Other “Elemental” Powers
Of all the classic fantasy monsters out there, the mighty dragon is easily the most pervasive. What’s not to love about a good old giant reptile? Especially one that, among other common traits like flight and a penchant for great wisdom and magic, is capable of breathing fire? Not that all dragons have those qualities,…
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Cousins and Clades (and Dragons): Taxonomy in Fantasy
Let’s start our journey into fantastical science by talking a little bit about the study of taxonomy, and how it fits into the world of fantasy. If you remember anything from biology class, you probably remember a few things about classic taxonomy. You know, that upside-down pyramid of species that are more and more closely…