are found, is rich in gold runoff from the neighboring mountains, lending some credence to the theory that these fossils were the basis of griffin myths. Mayor in 2001 and 2011 defended the hypothesis of Protoceratops as an influence over the griffin by citing that some other Greek histories about mythological creatures may have had their origins at the hands of fossil findings made by ancient people. She cited myths such as cyclopes, giants, griffins and minotaurs. In 2016 this hypothesis was criticized by the British paleontologist and paleoartist Mark P. Witton, as it ignores pre-Greek griffin art and accounts. Witton goes on to point out that the wings of traditional griffins are positioned above the shoulder blades, not behind the neck as the frills of Protoceratops, that the bodies of griffins much more closely resemble the bodies of modern big cats than they do those of Protoceratops, and that the gold deposits of central Asia occur hundreds of kilometers from the known Protoceratops fossil remains, among many other inconsistencies. It is simpler, he argues, to understand the griffin as a mythical combination of well-known extant animal species than as an ancient misunderstanding of fossilized collections of bones. See also Timeline of ceratopsian research List of dinosaur specimens with documented taphonomic histories References External links Footage from the Third Central Asiatic Expedition at YouTube 3D models of Protoceratops andrewsi at ArtStation 3D skull model of Protoceratops andrewsi at Sketchfab Restored Protoceratops andrewsi nest at Facebook Photograph of current AMNH 6418 at Behance Coronosaurs Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia Djadochta fauna Fossils of China Fossil taxa described in 1923 Taxa named by Walter W. Granger Taxa named by William King Gregory