University of Guelph Vice President External Daniel Atlin, Vice president of research Malcolm Campbell, and Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) Dean Jeffrey Wichtel were all on hand at a press conference held outside the University gates last night to announce the successful ontogeny of a leo-aquilae, more commonly known as a gryphon or griffen.
The gryphon, as any U of G student will know, is a once-mythological creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and an eagle’s talons as its front feet. Its origins can be found in Greek mythology and legend, where it was known as the king of all beasts, land and air, and guardian of treasures and priceless possessions. Thanks to the efforts of two University of Guelph researchers, the gryphon has been successfully liberated from the dusty pages of mythology and added to the illustrious journals of academe.
The “Got Gryphon” Project, as it came to be known within the hushed hallways of the OVC, was overseen by Dr. Allen King, who leads the reproductive technologies research group in Biomedical sciences. Dr. King has been working on improving cloning efficiencies and success rates in animals facing extinction. “This seemed like a natural extension of that research,” said King. Working closely with Dr. King was Dr. Tracey Chenier, who is a large animal theriogenologist, or reproduction expert. Dr. Chenier was brought into the project when the concept of transferring the embryo of an eagle into a lion became part of the plan. “The chromosome asymmetry was a challenge in this project,” said Chenier. “But we were able to overcome this complication through a liberal and repeated application of bovillus excrementum.”
Releasing the gryphon on Johnston Green was initially intended to be the capstone event at the University’s 50th anniversary celebration last summer. “The plan was to release the gryphon in a flurry of fireworks over Johnston Green at the strike of midnight,” said OVC professor Dr. Brad Hanna, under the condition of anonymity. “We found that the fireworks spooked the gryphon and it would wrap itself into a fetal position, cocooned within its own wings. Rather less spectacular than we had imagined,” added Hanna.
Once trained to not devour humans, the gryphon will be used at varsity football half-time events and to keep seagulls off the Cutten Club golf course. The researchers wish to thank Wellington Brewery, whose product helped inspire the project.