---
title: Leonine Monster
description: A mythological beast of the seas.
author:
  name: Graciela Paula Caldeiro
  url: http://graciela-caldeiro.idoneos.com
canonical: https://mitosyleyendas.idoneos.com/en/bestiario_mitologico/monstruo_leonino/
source: en/bestiario_mitologico/monstruo_leonino/index.md
---

Guillaume Rondelet, a French naturalist physician, had described this monster in the mid-sixteenth century. According to the Frenchman, this beast inhabited the seas, had no part that would allow it to swim, and had been captured shortly before the death of Pope Paul III in 1549. According to this source, the monster was the size and shape of a lion, had four legs with clawed toes, a tail with hair at its tip, large ears, and a body covered in scales. Outside its natural habitat, the monster could not survive for long.

Other marine beings of leonine form, covered in scales and even possessing a human voice, coincide with this description. According to other sources, these creatures would have a form similar to that of fish but with the head, mane, and hindquarters similar to those of a horse.