Gryphon
Gryphons are animals that resemble a combination of felines and birds. They have the head and wings of a bird, with feline ears and a feline body. They often have tufts of feathers on their tails, though not always.
The origin of gryphons is a very controversial one; many believe they are ancient relatives of dragons, while others believe they were created when animal merging magic was still the norm.
Regardless of their questionable origin, they are very useful animals. About as smart as horses, they are a popular choice for cart-pullers and mounts. This is especially so for those travelling in mountains, as a gryphon’s flexibility and flight ability can cut travel times by months simply by leaping drops that other mounts would have to navigate around.
Naturally, gryphons live in large flocks and exhibit the behaviour of the bird species dominant in their appearance. It is rare to have different species of bird traits in one flock, though their flocks may have any number of feline traits. Because gryphons are usually the size of the feline they take after, flocks can be incredibly diverse.
Almost every combination of feline and bird has been found on a gryphon at least once as gryphons are able to crossbreed with different breeds. When these crossbred kittens are born they are able to inherit any combination of feline/bird species that are present in the parents.
For example, a hawk/tiger gryphon that has kittens with a canary/lynx gryphon can produce four types of kittens: hawk/tiger, canary/lynx, hawk/lynx, and canary/tiger. Sometimes there may be recessive genes and a gryphon may be born with unexpected bird or feline traits, but this is not common.