Manticore, the name of a cruel and terrible quadruped that one finds only in fanciful descriptions by Ctesias, Aristotle, Aelian and Pliny. In Latin the animal was named mantichora , others called it martichora or martiora ; the Greeks called it andropophage , man-eater. According to Ctesias, this animal is reddish in color, with three rows of teeth on each jaw, which, when it closes them together, resemble the teeth of a comb. Aristotle and Pliny add that the creature has human-like ears and eyes, the eyes being gray or blue. The writers describe his call like that of a trumpet, imitating the sounds by modulating the air in its throat. The writers also assure that the end of the tail is tipped with barbs, with which it defends itself against those who approach it, and that it can even shoot them from a distance against pursuers. In fact, they claim that its agility is such that it leaps while running, which is scarcely less than flying. Pausanias reports these stories without seeming to give them much credence; because he begins by stating that this animal is nothing other than a tiger. It is likely that he is right, and that the fear of approaching it produced all of the fables transcribed by the Naturalists.