[blam]

Good article, thanks.

GGG Ping.

I believe the Thunderbird automobile was named after a giant bird of prey from American Indian legend. Anyone know for sure?

[SuziQ]

From the website, Phoenixarises.com
"The Thunderbird is one of the few cross-cultural elements of Native North American mythology. He is found not just among Plains Indians, but also among Pacific Northwest and Northeastern tribes. He has also become quite a bit of an icon for non-Indians, since he has also had the honor of having automobiles, liquors, and even a United States Air Force squadron named after him."

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam. The Thunderbird may have been some extinct variety of NA condor, or may have been something else entirely. "Strange" magazine used a bunch of ink trying to locate the mysterious lost photo of a purported thunderbird that had been shot, and that wasn't even the bird itself (if such exists). The "thunder" part of the name came from the cry of the bird, which was loud, distinctive, and frightening.

The Giant Panda is often classified as a bear or relative of bears, while the Lesser or Red Panda is generally held to be a relative of the raccoon. :')

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