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The winged scarab is an artifact with a distinctive form

enter image description here

It often depicts a sacred scarab dorsally, with a wide pair of feathered wings as the 2nd leg pair, raptorial talons as the 3rd legs, and a feathered tail like a bird at the rear end

How could this creature's anatomy fit together, if it were a physical creature?

The scarab should realistically be able to fly and grasp with its avian parts, as well as move about on the ground

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  • $\begingroup$ Eagle-insect chimaera. The modern fantasy artwork shown here is well known e-bay kitsch, a gift that can be bought for 30-40 dollars, the above image possibly bearing copyright (?) An authentic winged scarab (whose wings helped the deceased to reach the heavens) looks like brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/119440 $\endgroup$
    – Goodies
    Dec 6, 2021 at 19:42

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It's not a scarab at all, instead it's a bird that has developed a minor amount of armour for its back and neck/head. This armour is not to protect it from blows, needing to be light and is probably a collection of fused feathers, so it's actually used to protect itself from sandstorms.

When it detects a sandstorm it lands and settles into the sand, digging its feet into the sand as an achor and then tucking its wings and tail and head under its 'shell' to avoid damage from being sand-blasted. Once the sandstorm is over it digs itself out of whatever collection of sand it has no doubt found itself buried under and continues about its merry way.

As for the beetle-like forelegs... it could be a pronounced but in the end functionally useless head/beak feature/protrusion(s) like many birds have that is used during mating as is being perpetuated via sexual selection. I'm imagining a more forward-facing and stiffer version of what the king of saxony bird of paradise has got going on. enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ What about the beetle-like forelegs? $\endgroup$ Dec 6, 2021 at 18:35
  • $\begingroup$ @IchthysKing Probably stiff cosmetic feathers for sexual selection. Answer edited to elaborate. $\endgroup$
    – Rubrikon
    Dec 6, 2021 at 19:38
  • $\begingroup$ (lol) @Rubrikon actually it's not a scarab, it is a feather-winged beetle britannica.com/animal/feather-winged-beetle $\endgroup$
    – Goodies
    Dec 6, 2021 at 22:58

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