The black savannah gryphon

For this gryphon design I did quite a lot of studies and research. I started out with a general idea and started researching different animals; what they eat, where they live, how they live etc. I combined features from several animals to end up with the design that would not only look right but also make sense in the environment and story of the species. I based the final design on the (black) jaguar, raven, bat/flying fox and vulture.

If you're interested, here's the back story about the gryphon:

The black savannah gryphon
(also referred to as ‘the gryphon of death’)
This gryphon lives in the savannah or sand desert and
gets their nickname ‘the gryphon of death’ from their black colour, piercing eyes and most importantly their tail. When the gryphons are still young, their tails are stripped by the adults of the pack. They do so because the animals are prone to a certain infection that will kill them in only a few days. This infection is caused by a small organism that lives at the surface of the sand. Since the tail of the griffin naturally drags on the ground when they’re walking, these organisms often cling to the hairs and penetrate the skin. They are way less likely to enter through the back legs because of the cushions at the bottom of their paws and because there is less hair to cling onto.
The gryphons reach adult age after about 2 years, but can take care of themselves after 2 months. Soon after they reach adult age will start to reproduce.
The black savannah gryphon is omnivorous and highly opportunistic. They obtain half their dietary needs from scavenging and the other half from predation. They sometimes will lure other predators to a prey, wait until they have killed it and then feed on its remains.
Aside from the small organism causing infections, the enemies of this gryphon include only a few predators in its area. The adults will rarely be attacked; predators will try to kill and feed on their young since they are not as agile and strong as the adults.
These gryphons are highly intelligent. They are able to figure out complicated problems and are also one of the few creatures that use objects such as sticks for play. They often live in small groups and use this to their advantage when hunting for food. They will send one gryphon to distract the adults of another animals nest and the others will quickly take the young.