![Image 1 — [OC] Griffins in Colour!](https://preview.redd.it/diobtcdqj7kh1.png?width=2144&format=png&auto=webp&s=83b4eea42a2c89f1d167cf9a37430db11cb58beb)
![Image 2 — [OC] Griffins in Colour!](https://preview.redd.it/t4sl2ndrj7kh1.png?width=1252&format=png&auto=webp&s=f49308734655b02c6926b0ac52d864091776414d)
Programs used: MSPaint (lineart) and GIMP (colours).
Trying to learn digital art is always better with nonsense aliens.
These aliens are griffins from a previous post which went into a lot of detail about them but showed only the original sketches of the griffins. I tried my best to follow what I wrote as best I could in terms of colouration and integument patterns.
Any suggestions and construction would be appreciated!
(This is my very rough first attempt of creating and describing a single species in detail. Some details are not included due to not being conceptualised yet or because I haven't considered it. Any constructive criticism and advice would be much appreciated.)
Griffins are hexapodal, winged vertebrates. They possess two pairs of longer, locomotory limbs with a single pair of shorter limbs which are more suited for manipulation. The average griffin stands at around 110-120cm (~3.6-3.9ft) with a wingspan of around 2m (~6.6ft).
In the end, maybe the real spooky scary skeletons were the aliens we drew along the way...
Skull:
Griffins possess a relatively large skull for their body size which, as with their entire skeleton, is made of bone.
The upper section consists of a snout and a braincase, fused into a single structure. Protruding from this upper section is a bony crest which grows throughout life and is slightly larger in aou’s than it is in aou’ii‘s. Crests vary in shape but tend to be roughly triangular or trapezoidal in mature adults and present colours ranging from purplish reds to yellows in patterns of non-intersecting blobs.
The lower section consists of multiple bones which together form a lower jaw. The four bones that make up the lower jaw are: the dentary, from which the lower set of teeth emerge; the articular, which forms the lower part of the jaw hinge; the angular bone, which connects to all other bones in the lower jaw; and the splenial bone.
Dentition in griffins is adapted for a hyper-carnivorous diet. It is split into three main sections: the beak (or manipulatory teeth), the slicing teeth and the grinding teeth. Griffins have a dental formula of ( 1. 2. 2. / 1. 2. 2. ).
The beak sits outside of the lips at the front of the snout and was ancestrally formed from the fusion of two sets of incisor-like teeth. Its primary function is to tear and manipulate small pieces of meat, but it is also commonly used to handle small prey items or as a “third hand” of sorts. Behind the beak sits the slicing teeth, whose primary function is to cut up larger chunks of flesh. At the very back of the jaw sit the grinding teeth. These serve a dual function of cutting up smaller pieces of flesh before swallowing as well as grinding tougher or harder pieces of the meal such as small bones. This is achieved through the structure of the tooth, with a shearing end at the front and a grinding end at the back. Similar to motor and pestle, the lower tooth features a valley which is filled in chewing by a protruding section of the upper tooth which helps in grinding.
Limbs:
As previously mentioned, griffins have 6 limbs in total, arranged into 3 pairs of 2 limbs. All limbs share the same basic structure of: upper limb bone, lower limb bone, metatarsals and digits (of which there are 3: 2 composed of 2 bones and 1 composed of 3 bones), but each set of limbs tweaks the structure slightly to serve its function. All griffins are digitigrade.
The forelimbs are the shortest of the limbs and are used to manipulate objects. They point directly forward and possess the most flexible wrists of the limbs. The hand is formed of 3 digits which are all roughly the same length and is near symmetrical, bar either the outer digits being slightly longer than its counterpart. It tends to be the case that griffins have more fine control of the longer outer digit, which then serves as a thumb of sorts but it isn’t uncommon for an individual to possess equal control of both outer digits, awarding finer control overall. The manipulator function of the forelimbs is provided to them by the upright posture of griffins, as in other lifeforms they tend to be just another set of locomotory limbs.
The middle limbs are the longest and most derived of the limbs, as they form the wing of griffins. In the middle limb, the lower leg bone is elongated and the digits are very different from each other, forming a non-symmetrical hand. The central digit is elongated and robust, supporting any weight put on the leg when walking. The outfacing 1st digit is most derived, possessing an extremely elongated 2nd bone which supports the wing. The wing itself is formed of a tough but stretchy fold of skin (similar to the mammalian patagium) which stretches from around the shoulder to the tip of the wing digit and muscles anchored by a keel bone help it to function.
The hind limbs are the least derived of the limbs and have very few functions other than walking around on the ground. The bones that make up the hind limbs are more robust than in the fore and middle limbs in order to support the weight of the griffin. The digits of the hind limbs are slightly splayed apart to form a large surface area while walking but can fold inwards when not in use. Griffins can rear onto their hind limbs for a short period of time but the structure of their pelvis does not allow for long-term bipedal locomotion. When doing this, griffins appear to be roughly 1.5X their usual height.
The tip of each digit ends in a keratinous, non-retractable claw.
Integument:
A griffin’s entire body is covered by a layer of feather-like integument. Each unit of this integument consists of two parts: a longer, stiff-barbed protective layer and a downy underlayer. Each quill will produce a dual vaned structure and as the structure develops, the outer vane will produce long, stiff barbs, cross attached by barbicels while the inner vein will produce shorter barbs and barbules which hang free of each other due to not being cross attached. This forms a layer of down below the protective layer.
As with most animals, the density and length of this integument is not uniform across the entire body. Units tend to be longest along the bottom of the neck down to the belly, where they are also the most dense. Integument (where it is present) is most sparse around the digits and is entirely absent on the crest, wings and beak.
Besides from the typical units found across the entire body, there are some specialised forms of integument in specific places. For example, around the eyes and respiratory orifices, long thin strands possessing few barbs are packed around the rims of these sensitive surfaces to prevent dirt and debris from entering them. Units also continue some way into the respiratory orifice, also to trap debris. Furthermore, whisker-like units cover the area around the mouth and are associated with sensory input.
The integument of griffins is generally quite dark and drab, with colouration ranging around shades of gray and brown or possibly navy depending on the light. This darker base is often covered in lighter spots and splodges, mostly around the head, back, shoulders and digits. Stripes can exist but are less common than spots or splodges. Although dark covering is by far the most common colouring, lighter forms can arise due to mutation. These lighter morphs are rare and do not provide the same protection from parasites and UV light.
Diet and Digestion:
Griffins are hypercarnivorous, with over 70% of their diet being animal derived. More specifically, griffins primarily prey upon oceanic or freshwater animals, which they obtain through a variety of methods ranging from active predation to net fishing to complex fish farms. In line with their carnivorous diet, griffins possess a relatively short digestive tract and cannot digest some plant material. The advent of fire use caused a yet further reduction in the length of the digestive tract.
All griffins possess a crop in their throat which allows them to carry partially digested food to either ingest later or feed to their young. However, in settled populations, the crop tends to be smaller (though still extant) than in nomadic populations, perhaps due to the more readily available food in settled areas and the lack of a need to be able to eat food quicker or store it for long periods of time before feeding it to offspring.
Vision:
Griffins have much greater vision than the average human. This vision emerged in order to serve an active sea predator, thus adaptations like the presence of oil droplets in the cones of the retina to improve contrast and long distance vision. Griffins can see in detail for about 4km (~2.5mi) and can account for refractions on the water’s surface when hunting.
Griffins have 2 sets of eyes and each set can move independently of the other, but the greatest visual acuity is achieved when both sets of eyes are focused in on the same area. Hypothetically, if both sets of eyes were facing in certain directions, a griffin could achieve >300 degrees of vision but this is rarely needed in day to day life.
Circadian Rhythm:
Griffins are primarily diurnal, as their behaviour is very much based around vision and colour. They tend to sleep for around 6 hours during the night. However, it is common among many populations to partake in a midday rest (lasting around 2 hours) to avoid the hottest and most UV intensive parts of the day.
Spoken Language:
Griffin spoken language would be equal parts familiar and alien to a human. We would be able to hear most of it, bar the higher ends, and would see familiarity in the fact that the sound comes from the head but past that point griffin speech would be seen as increasingly strange and nearly impossible to replicate without additional help.
Spoken language is broken up into two main segments. The first is the rhythmic clashing of the teeth and beak while the second is the production of whistles and calls from the two respiratory openings that sit just behind the jaw. The latter would probably be the first to register as speech for us.
In order to create sound through the respiratory holes, air is passed from specialised air sacs into a hollow chamber leading out of the griffin’s body. Several tissues are present along the exiting segment which serve to finely control the pitch and tone of the sound produced. Both holes can produce sound independently of each other, allowing a griffin to relay two sets of information at once or to add additional meaning to a piece of information without wasting extra time to do so.
Alongside these whistles, clashing of teeth is used. It can signify the end of a topic, sentence or an important distinction within the word or sentence. As well as this, some common words or phrases use teeth clashing exclusively and teeth clashing is often learnt before complex whistling, leading to limited vocabulary in younger griffins.
By using whistles alongside teeth clashing, all words in most griffin languages can be formed through precise control of pitch, tone and the rhythm of clashes but to use only the vocal elements of griffin speech would be equivalent to speaking in a monotone. In order to vary the register of a sentence and emphasise certain elements, body language and hand signs can be used. A certain sign could be used to put emphasis on a certain word or to change the mood of a sentence, so instead of just saying “i didn’t steal the cloth”, a griffin could instead say “i didn’t steal the CLOTH” or “i didn’t STEAL the cloth” to slightly tweak the meaning of the phrase.
It's like the rainbow but I'm better than you if my favourite colour is blue!
Colour:
Griffins have very similar colour perception to humans, with a visible range between 340 and 700 nanometers. This means that they can see slightly further into ultraviolet light and are slightly less sensitive to the red end of the spectrum than humans are, but otherwise perceive colours more or less the same.
In many griffin societies, colour hierarchies exist which can be used to determine social class from what colours an individual wears. The hierarchies themselves derive from cultural associations relating to certain colours. An example hierarchy is shown (from bottom to top):
Layer 1: Criminals, Prisoners or Disgraced:
This layer consists exclusively of monochrome colours and depicts the lowest possible class an individual can have. At this layer, an individual is rarely expected to appear in public and have very few legal protections if they do. The reasoning behind this layer is essentially “You suck so much that we want you to be as visually uninteresting as possible. You don’t deserve colours and you will be forced to stand out in a crowd so that everyone knows you suck.”
There are movements in some progressive areas to abolish layer 1, citing it as dehumanising and barbaric to reduce an individual down to their past actions in a visible way.
Layer 2-4: Average Citizen:
These layers consist of the colours that you will find people wearing if you were to walk into a random street in a griffin city. Anyone can wear these colours, but the further up you go, the more wealth or status you are implied to have. Theoretically anyone can wear green, but the green dyes are rarer and more expensive, so if you can afford green clothes, you are assumed to be better off.
It is the case in some areas that the “average citizen” layers will be further divided by interior class or gender. For example, in some areas, an aou may be able to wear the entire range of layers 2, 3 and 4, while an aou’ii may be restricted to layer 2 or 3. More progressive areas have abolished this.
Layer 5-6: High Class:
These layers consist of the colours worn by aristocrats, lords and anyone with either a cool title or a lot of money. Dark green and light blue/ dyes are rare and expensive, meaning they are automatically associated with wealth but if they were merely associated with wealth, normal people would be allowed to wear them, given sufficient wealth. These layers are cut off from the average citizen because of their colour’s association with power, fertility, luck and the mystical.
To wear these colours is to signal that you are, by definition, more important than any given person other than the ruler of your kingdom. To not have any status and wear these colours is sometimes grounds for disgracement, as it’s seen as a show of arrogance and disrespect towards people more important than you, almost like treason. Additionally, no ordinary person should be able to acquire dark green or blue clothing, so more often than not, they are assumed to have been stolen, which is grounds for disgracement anyways.
Layer 7: Ruler, God-Kings and Emperors:
Deep blues are reserved for the most important person in a given area. The colour is associated with divinity, as it defines both realms that can’t be inhabited by mortals (the sea and sky) and since the most important person is the closest to the gods, it is expected for them to wear the colour of the gods. Alternatively, the most important person in a given area is considered to actually be a god, in which case they wear the colour of the gods because that is what they really are.
What is a tool? Never heard of it. (I will draw things eventually).
