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Description
Alphyn

Class: Gryphus
Order: Carniformes
Family: Avislupidae
Genus: Alph
Type Species: Alph corvus

Alphyns, also known as Old World Alphyns, are bird-like predators found throughout the Old World in areas such as Europe, Asia, and Africa. These creatures belong to the order Carniformes, which includes all Alphyns, Gryphons, Demigryphs, and other species.

Origins: Alphyns and their ancestors evolved roughly during the middle Eocene by Carinataen relatives of modern birds. Unlike birds, however, the ancestors of the Alphyn returned to a life on the ground so as to avoid direct competition with the ancestors of modern birds. This gave them new opportunities to fill different niches left empty by the death of the dinosaurs, but were quickly filling up right and left by various new mammal groups. While initially successful, direct competition with mammals restricted the vast majority of Gryph ancestors to retain a primarily carnivorous lifestyle with only a few various and rare exceptions.

The earliest recorded Alphyn ancestors took up the niche that would later be filled by Wolves, becoming powerful, smaller predators built to kill various medium-sized to large prey that were available during the evolutionary age before the coming of the Ice Ages. Their prehistoric ranges stretched throughout prehistoric Europe and Asia where they dominated the role of small-time predators and evolved into various forms in order to specialize in hunting specific species. However this changed when the Ice Age came, and most Alphyns could not adapt in time to deal with the sudden changes in cold temperature. Most migrated south into Africa where their ancestors remain to this day, with their later return stunted by the establishment of modern Gray Wolves in their former ranges. Today, Alphyns can only be found in warmer regions of Europe and Asia where large wolf populations are nonexistent, while a large number of their populations still roam Africa.

Description: Alphyns are only slightly bigger than modern Gray Wolves, reaching up to 98 cm (39 in) in height and around 200 cm (79 in) in length on average. However, they are also much lighter; this is due to their lightweight physique as close cousins to modern birds. Alphyns rarely grow heavier than 25 kilograms (55 lbs). While this makes them more agile this makes it difficult for them to be able to take down large prey. Alphyns are commonly black in color on their skin and on their beaks, but their plumage can range from dull browns to dark grays, to very dark/dirty whites depending on their range. Alph corvus, or the Gray Alphyn, the type species, is a dark gray in color.

Behavior/Feeding: Alphyns fit a similar niche to wolves, which is part of why the two predators cannot exist in the same area without heavy competition between one another. Alphyns are very social creatures that tend to live in large packs, called Murders, anywhere between 10-20 individuals depending on the season and the food supply available. These Alphyns rarely hunt together, but commonly travel and den together and will defend one another against aggressive attacks from rivals or larger predators.

Alphyns are opportunistic hunters, adapted to hunt small game such as grouse, rabbits, wildcats, foxes, and even small deer. Due to their size, speed, and agility these are the easiest prey for them to hunt down, and they commonly do so via ambush hunting before running down their prey with their superior speed. Alphyns have been known, however, to gang on other predators during lean seasons; using their larger numbers to drive a lone predator or a smaller pack away from a big kill or otherwise quickly scavenging from the kill left behind by a large predator. Alphyns in Asia have been seen climbing trees in order to ambush prey similar to leopards, though it is rare to see Old World Alphyns engage in more complex predatory behavior.

Alphyn family groups are often composed of either a single or two dominant pairs with lesser males and females that tag along. The dominance of one male is determined by his plumage during breeding season and by how much excess food he can successfully kill and bring back to the den during fledgling season. Alphyns den together in burrows dug by the males (though some Asian varieties nest in trees so as to avoid tigers) which can be quite deep. Females lay an average of three eggs a clutch which quickly mature and reach adulthood after two years.

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I've been seriously thinking about composing a bestiary for myself; essentially a compilation of creatures either from heraldry or stuff that I have created on my own that can be put in a book and perhaps published for the fun of it. Some of these designs I might also use for video games once I get around to it. In any case I decided to start working on the lines and, at a later date, the colors for a proper bestiary and decided to show it off for you guys, seeing as I haven't drawn anything in a very long while.

For those of you who don't know, Alphyns are an actual creature from Medieval Heraldry which are most famous as the badge of office used by the Barons De La Warr in England, (De La Warr later becoming Delaware, the name of one of the 50 states in the US). They are similar to griffins in that they are a composite species. Unlike griffins, instead of being a bird and a big cat like a lion, Alphyns are a combination of a bird and a wolf, and as such has similar qualities to both animals. Their names actually are derived from a Germanic word meaning "Chaser" or "Wolf." You can read more about them here - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphyn

Of course, for this bestiary I decided that simply combining a wolf and an eagle would be too easy, namely because that would be the simplest composite. Being the paleontology nerd that I am I gave them an origin story and decided instead to make my Alphyns a combination of wolves and corvids (crows, ravens, magpies, etc). This not only fits the traditional appearance of the Alphyn (seeing as Alphyns do not have a hooked beak like eagles do) but also gives it a sense of style that sets it apart from other griffon and griffon-like animals. I intend to do this with some of the other composite species that get featured later in this bestiary.

Now that we have that MASSIVE wall of text out of the way, I think it is time I adjourn. Hope you all enjoyed!

-Kerian

Sketched in pencil, inked using fine point sharpie.

Description
Alphyn

Class: Gryphus
Order: Carniformes
Family: Avislupidae
Genus: Alph
Type Species: Alph corvus

Alphyns, also known as Old World Alphyns, are bird-like predators found throughout the Old World in areas such as Europe, Asia, and Africa. These creatures belong to the order Carniformes, which includes all Alphyns, Gryphons, Demigryphs, and other species.

Origins: Alphyns and their ancestors evolved roughly during the middle Eocene by Carinataen relatives of modern birds. Unlike birds, however, the ancestors of the Alphyn returned to a life on the ground so as to avoid direct competition with the ancestors of modern birds. This gave them new opportunities to fill different niches left empty by the death of the dinosaurs, but were quickly filling up right and left by various new mammal groups. While initially successful, direct competition with mammals restricted the vast majority of Gryph ancestors to retain a primarily carnivorous lifestyle with only a few various and rare exceptions.

The earliest recorded Alphyn ancestors took up the niche that would later be filled by Wolves, becoming powerful, smaller predators built to kill various medium-sized to large prey that were available during the evolutionary age before the coming of the Ice Ages. Their prehistoric ranges stretched throughout prehistoric Europe and Asia where they dominated the role of small-time predators and evolved into various forms in order to specialize in hunting specific species. However this changed when the Ice Age came, and most Alphyns could not adapt in time to deal with the sudden changes in cold temperature. Most migrated south into Africa where their ancestors remain to this day, with their later return stunted by the establishment of modern Gray Wolves in their former ranges. Today, Alphyns can only be found in warmer regions of Europe and Asia where large wolf populations are nonexistent, while a large number of their populations still roam Africa.

Description: Alphyns are only slightly bigger than modern Gray Wolves, reaching up to 98 cm (39 in) in height and around 200 cm (79 in) in length on average. However, they are also much lighter; this is due to their lightweight physique as close cousins to modern birds. Alphyns rarely grow heavier than 25 kilograms (55 lbs). While this makes them more agile this makes it difficult for them to be able to take down large prey. Alphyns are commonly black in color on their skin and on their beaks, but their plumage can range from dull browns to dark grays, to very dark/dirty whites depending on their range. Alph corvus, or the Gray Alphyn, the type species, is a dark gray in color.

Behavior/Feeding: Alphyns fit a similar niche to wolves, which is part of why the two predators cannot exist in the same area without heavy competition between one another. Alphyns are very social creatures that tend to live in large packs, called Murders, anywhere between 10-20 individuals depending on the season and the food supply available. These Alphyns rarely hunt together, but commonly travel and den together and will defend one another against aggressive attacks from rivals or larger predators.

Alphyns are opportunistic hunters, adapted to hunt small game such as grouse, rabbits, wildcats, foxes, and even small deer. Due to their size, speed, and agility these are the easiest prey for them to hunt down, and they commonly do so via ambush hunting before running down their prey with their superior speed. Alphyns have been known, however, to gang on other predators during lean seasons; using their larger numbers to drive a lone predator or a smaller pack away from a big kill or otherwise quickly scavenging from the kill left behind by a large predator. Alphyns in Asia have been seen climbing trees in order to ambush prey similar to leopards, though it is rare to see Old World Alphyns engage in more complex predatory behavior.

Alphyn family groups are often composed of either a single or two dominant pairs with lesser males and females that tag along. The dominance of one male is determined by his plumage during breeding season and by how much excess food he can successfully kill and bring back to the den during fledgling season. Alphyns den together in burrows dug by the males (though some Asian varieties nest in trees so as to avoid tigers) which can be quite deep. Females lay an average of three eggs a clutch which quickly mature and reach adulthood after two years.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been seriously thinking about composing a bestiary for myself; essentially a compilation of creatures either from heraldry or stuff that I have created on my own that can be put in a book and perhaps published for the fun of it. Some of these designs I might also use for video games once I get around to it. In any case I decided to start working on the lines and, at a later date, the colors for a proper bestiary and decided to show it off for you guys, seeing as I haven't drawn anything in a very long while.

For those of you who don't know, Alphyns are an actual creature from Medieval Heraldry which are most famous as the badge of office used by the Barons De La Warr in England, (De La Warr later becoming Delaware, the name of one of the 50 states in the US). They are similar to griffins in that they are a composite species. Unlike griffins, instead of being a bird and a big cat like a lion, Alphyns are a combination of a bird and a wolf, and as such has similar qualities to both animals. Their names actually are derived from a Germanic word meaning "Chaser" or "Wolf." You can read more about them here - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphyn

Of course, for this bestiary I decided that simply combining a wolf and an eagle would be too easy, namely because that would be the simplest composite. Being the paleontology nerd that I am I gave them an origin story and decided instead to make my Alphyns a combination of wolves and corvids (crows, ravens, magpies, etc). This not only fits the traditional appearance of the Alphyn (seeing as Alphyns do not have a hooked beak like eagles do) but also gives it a sense of style that sets it apart from other griffon and griffon-like animals. I intend to do this with some of the other composite species that get featured later in this bestiary.

Now that we have that MASSIVE wall of text out of the way, I think it is time I adjourn. Hope you all enjoyed!

-Kerian

Sketched in pencil, inked using fine point sharpie.