[fidelis]

A figure with a human face and the legs of a bird or horse has been dated to around the time of contact with the Spanish.

I've read accounts that when the Aztecs first encountered the Spaniards on horseback, they initially thought they were some kind of half man and half four-legged creature.

[SunkenCiv]

Yup, makes me wonder if the myths of the Centaurs arose similarly.