Last Update: 9 December 2003
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Cockatrice / Amphisien
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Characteristics:
Description:
  • Amphisien's have a 2nd head on its tail and are used in heraldry
  • Offspring of the rooster only.
  • Possibly an Egyptian spitting lizard?
  • Has the body of a lizard, the head of a rooster, and feathered wings, or bat wings. Some sources also say it has wattles (loose flesh) hanging from both sides of its head
Associations / Symbolism:
  • Represented Sin and Death to Christians during Medieval times
Origins and Historocity:
  • First seen in the deserts of north Africa during the 1st Century AD
  • Thought to have been the evolved form of the Basilisk.
Related Tales / Literature:
  • Appears in some Bibles - although the author might have meant viper instead
Sources:

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