G is for Griffin

Griffins have the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Since lions are kings of the land, and eagles are kings of the sky, griffins are often used as symbols of royalty. Griffins mate for life, and the offspring of a griffin and a mare is a hippogriff, which, since it came from a mythical creature and a lowly one, is sometimes found as statues on Christian churches to represent the divine and mortal aspects of Christ. Griffins can be traced from Greek mythology back to Egyptian mythology, and may possibly have been an ancient mistake based on the fossils of a protoceratops, which is pretty awesome.