A Manticore (Martigor martigor).
This is what's written in Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You about Manticores.
Manticores (Family: Bestiadae)[]
Originally documented in Persia, the feared, man-eating manticore, or manticora, has been sighted in places as varied as the jungles of Brazil and Indonesia and, more rarely, the forests of North America and Europe. With the body of a lion and a tail of poisonous spines some reports indicate can be shot like arrows, a manticore is a lethal predator. It eats its victims whole using its triple rows of teeth, and leaves no bones behind.
A manticore's face is said to resemble a human's, and travelers through marshes have reported mistaking a manticore for a bearded man from a distance.
Manticores have a melodious call, like the lower notes on a flute blown together with a trumpet. Despite the beauty of the sound, most animals know to flee when they hear it. Humans would do well to follow their lead.
Known species[]
- Manticore (Martigor martigor)
Additional facts[]
Manticores mostly prefer to eat large mammals such as deer, antilopes, gazelles, and humans. They will devour smaller animals, such as mice, rats or rabbits, to supplement the main diet.
A Manticora is about the size of a cougar, again smaller than Arthur Spiderwick expected.
The tail quills are equipped with poison glands, which continues to pump poison through the hollow spine, even after it has been ejected from the tail.
Known Manticore[]
Arthur encountered a male specimen during a trip to a jungle in Latin America. The Manticore was blind on the left eye (maybe the result of a struggling prey) and dined upon something Arthur couldn't bring himself to write down (probably it was Human).
Nick Vargas had a brief sighting of a Manticore eating roadkill along the side of a road when he Laurie, Jules and Cindy went to the Spiderwick book signing in Orlando.
Behind the scenes[]
The Manticore of myth originated in Persia (today's Iran), where it was first known as a Martyaxwar. Resembling the Egyptic Sphinx, the horrordus beast had the body of a red lion, the head of a man, the tail of a Dragon or scorpion, and a voice resembling the sound of a trumpet. It could also sound like a Human, luring travelers closer and then killing them with its tail and triple rows of teeth.
In modern fantasy, the Manticore also have the wings of a Dragon.
Appearances[]
- Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide (First appearance)
- The Nixie's Song