What Is This Animal?

[AmeriThai]

Below is a cutout of a carving on a pillar at Angkor Wat. I figure if it’s a creature from Cambodia, then there’s a good chance it’s probably known in Thailand as well.

It kind of resembles a stylized water buffalo, but the horns look too straight and the tail is way too thick. I’m not sure if they’re horns. They might be ears. I’m guessing it’s a grazer of some kind and it appears to have hoof-like feet. On the other hand, it could be some kind of mythical creature. The black line around the horns was added just to make them stand out better.

Does anyone have any idea what this thing is?

[Misplaced]

Triceratops... I think

[Gazza]

Possibly just a buffalo. The horns and tail were probably sculptured that way too prevent them breaking off easily.

[Nickerelastic]

tapir?

[wilko]

Below is a cutout of a carving on a pillar at Angkor Wat. I figure if it’s a creature from Cambodia, then there’s a good chance it’s probably known in Thailand as well.

It kind of resembles a stylized water buffalo, but the horns look too straight and the tail is way too thick. I’m not sure if they’re horns. They might be ears. I’m guessing it’s a grazer of some kind and it appears to have hoof-like feet. On the other hand, it could be some kind of mythical creature. The black line around the horns was added just to make them stand out better.

Does anyone have any idea what this thing is?

It looks like an Aardvaark - I have a book on how to make your Aarvark soft again...

[chuchok]

How about the whole carving?

[AmeriThai]

How about the whole carving?

LOL! Yes, that's how it looks uncut. Some people are convinced it's some kind of stegosaurus. Not a chance. I'm just trying to figure out what it really is.

Possibly just a buffalo. The horns and tail were probably sculptured that way too prevent them breaking off easily.

Could be. I'm not sure about the tail and horns breaking off though. The horns are somewhat etched into the head and maybe rounded a bit. The whole thing was carved directly into the stone as relief. It shouldn't break off.

[chownah]

Pangolin.

[meadish_sweetball]

แรด - rhinoceros, subjected to denosification by potency drug hunters.

[FlyingDutchman]

Pangolin.

Malaysian for "rolling up into a ball"

... for those who ask themselves what a Pangolin is ...

But I guess not. It hasn't got horns on it's head, not even ears.

"After wandering through the temple and marveling at the twisting fig trees for over an hour, Dinosaur GlyphI finally located the glyph I was searching for near the exit to the complex. Before me, enclosed in a round circle, was a clear depiction of what could only be a stegosaurus."

Source

Does look like a stegasaurus to me ...

... but a stegasaurus hasn't got horns on it's head, nor ears .

Could it be a Gaur ?

Or some antilope ?

But they haven't got plates on their back.

The 'thing' stands on a chamaeleon's head. You can tell by the eyes of the chamaeleon.

I guess the 'thing' was carved, 'as it's been seen' by the artist.

1. It has elephant like legs (stegasaurus).

2. It's hind legs seem to be longer then it's front legs (stegasaurus).

3. It's got plates on it's back (stegasaurus).

4. It's got a big head (not an stegasaurus).

5. It's got horns (not a stegasaurus).

6. It's got no neck (not a stegasaurus).

I wouldn't know , but it's a remarkable carving .

[malw71]

Fat pangolin.

[DeathbyDurian]

Are you trying to say that the Cambodians made the dinosaurs extinct and not a meteor?

[Rinrada]

Looks like a koprey which is only found in Eastern Cambodia and is their national animal.

Its a sort of jungle cow that looks sorta half way between a Buff and big goat and supposed to have mystical properties

Very few people have ever seen one but i was lucky to come upon a couple on one of my trips in Rattakiri/Mondulkirri about 15 years ago.

[Sophon]

Looks like a pig to me, although the tail is a little long.

Can't imagine why they would depict a pig on a Cambodian temple, so probably not.

Sophon

[AmeriThai]

One reason why it isn’t a steggy should be obvious. How could the stone carver depict a dinosaur that’s been extinct for millions of years? Even if bones of one had been uncovered, I seriously doubt anyone at the time Angkor Wat was being built would have a clue as to what a steggy looked based on a few bones.

THE TAIL

The suggestion that the animal may be a gaur or kouprey looks much closer, but the tail on the carving is as thick as what you’d expect to see on some lizards or a kangaroo. The tails in these photos look pretty puny in comparison to the carving.

ARE THEY PLATES?

I can understand how at a casual glance it would seem the creature does indeed have plates on its back. However, that’s not what they are at all. The creature as depicted in the first post is more what it would be like: without ‘plates’.

The reason why some unrelated objects can be seen as something entirely different is called ‘pareidolia’: the same thing that happens when seeing a ship in the clouds, or a face on Mars, or a well-known image on a burnt piece of toast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

A closer look and one discovers the ‘plates’ are actually the stylized design used to depict radiance (a halo) that is often found on images of religious significance. This same stylized halo is also found on the outer ring surrounding each of the images on the column. In the carving BELOW the so-called ‘steggy’, the main figure (resembles a dog) also has a halo that’s smaller in size but only because the figure itself is smaller.

Here are the two carvings shown together

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/4425/an...rvings032qg.jpg

The halo elements in the ‘dino’ carving

http://img498.imageshack.us/img498/824/ang...ving001a5vb.jpg

The same halo elements are found in the ‘dog’ carving

http://img498.imageshack.us/img498/4263/an...ving001b2ah.jpg

The halo elements of the beautiful Phra Buddha Chinnarat

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/4369/pr...hinnarat3jo.jpg

I think these comparisons show that the ‘plates’ are not part of the animal’s back, and that the animal isn’t a dinosaur as some on other websites would suppose but was a depicting a living animal that the people would have seen when Angkor Wat was being built.

I'm still rather stumped about the thick tail though. It could be that it was just easier to carve it large like that. But there is another carving immediately above the 'dino' carving that shows what looks like a deer with a slender antler.

Image is not very clear

[FlyingDutchman]

Nice explanation, AmeriThai. I forgot to mention the tail, which indeed looks rather big to add to a cow-like creature as a Gaur, Antilope or Kouprey, but also do the legs. The deer above the 'dino' carving, doesn't seem to have the halo, though your explanation is very acceptable.

[Kringle]

Go to the national museum for help as they would have more info on this as it's from a WAT.

[BambinA]

An Ancient Stegosaur Depiction At Angkor Wat

[richard10365]

Maybe its a "Dog-a-sourus". A beloved ancient pet that ended up on the dinner table and the carving was their way of remembering him..........or not.

[papaya9]

Obviously a homosapien-inspired Stego hybrid.

[thaibebop]

Looks like an Armadillo. But I don't think they are Asia. Maybe they were along time ago, you knows.

[feasantplukka]

think its a soi dog lol

[FlyingDutchman]

Thai art

What is this thing ?

"On the top is an ancient Thai object (incense burner or candle holder) of art from the book Arts of Asia. Curiously enough, it looks like a stylized version of a sauropod, a type of dinosaur that was actually found in Thailand. Those are birds perched on the back of the dino."

"Phu Wiang Forest was declared the 71st national park in 1991 and covers an area of about 325 square kilometres. It is located approximately 85 kilometres northwest of Khon Kaen city and is a great source of dinosaur fossils, especially in the northwest section of the park....www.wikipedia.com - Thai Travel Site."

From America ... "On the left, from the early South American Colima culture, a tank like creature ... a currently unknown species."

[AmeriThai]

think its a soi dog lol

You might be right! It's a prehistoric soi dog!

An Ancient Stegosaur Depiction At Angkor Wat

Bambina: Our Favorite TV Animal Expert to the Rescue!

That website is one of several that tend to believe the carving actually depicts a stegosaur, and that it is strong evidence that people (at the time the carving was added to Angkor Wat) would have either seen the creature or at least been very familiar with it because the creature was alive and well, stomping around the area at the time.

So... what do YOU think the carving shows? Why?

Thai art

What is this thing ?

From America ... "On the left, from the early South American Colima culture, a tank like creature ... a currently unknown species."

The Thai item looks like a Naga.

The South American item is a tortise.

[chanchao]

Whatever it was, they probably ate the lot of them.

[AmeriThai]

Seems like there are a couple of likely probabilities of what the 'mystery' animal carving may represent:

- Water Buffalo

- Gaur (Kouprey)

The thick tail on the carving doesn't really fit with either animal, but there are a few possible reasons why the carving looks the way it does.

Here's a comparison of the carving with the other two animals.

[raro]

Of course the same aliens that abducted a Stegosaurus earlier helped building the temple. Quite obvious, huh?

[FlyingDutchman]

You might be right! It's a prehistoric soi dog!

What are these things ? {EDITED}

The Thai item looks like a Naga ...

Naga ? ... Have to Google again ...

[kayo]

NONONONONONOONNONNONONNNNOOOOO!!!!!!

It´s Bambi when she has a bad hair day!

[AmeriThai]

Naga ? ... Have to Google again ...

Is that from India? I was thinking of Chiang Mai, a bit more dragon like.

http://www.chasingashley.com/Thailand-Chia...n_staircase_kev

Of course the same aliens that abducted a Stegosaurus earlier helped building the temple. Quite obvious, huh?

Those aliens do things like that every time! Give 'em a light year, and they'll want a parsec!