Anatomically Correct Tarasque

Question

The tarasque in provencial mythology is a draconic chimera with a rather unique form: It has a leonine head, a large body supported by 6 bear legs, and a tail like a serpent. On its back it has a row of sharp spines and a pair of turtle carapaces, and its tail bears a stinger, similar to a scorpion.

A representation of a Tarasque at Tarascon's Castle, (public domain)

While this form may make sense at first glance, it is quite absurd at a closer inspection. The shell is completely unlike the shells of any real animal, the torso (due to the snake-like 'tail') has 2 different forms along along its length, and the legs would not fit into a typical tortoise' skeleton

How would such a beast fit together inside?

I’m voting to close this question because it's speculating about a creature from existing works of fiction and instead of asking about building a fictional world. — sphennings, Jan 10 '22 at 14:36
@sphennings Are we not allowed to ask about mythological creatures anymore? When did that happen? — Ichthys King, Jan 10 '22 at 14:44
Please supply a picture (again, again, again, again....), it's really unclear what you're describing. — Escaped dental patient., Jan 10 '22 at 15:15
@sphennings Are tarrasques just D&D &|| Forgotten Realms? I mean, we can ask questions about dragons and they exist in D&D. — Firedestroyer, Jan 10 '22 at 15:35
@sphennings Check your D&D book :). The tarasque in D&D (and Pathfinder) is a huge Lizard on steroids with spikes on its back and horns. On its side, the Tarrasque Ichtys is mentionning is from Provence folklore. Lion-head and turtle shell and 6 legs look a lot more like the latter. Doesn't mean I'll go on my way to fight one anyway :p. — Tortliena - inactive, Jan 10 '22 at 15:53
https://worldbuilding.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2797/anatomically-correct-series/2798#2798 — Logan R. Kearsley, Jan 10 '22 at 16:04
@IchthysKing I've edited your question to clear up confusion and chose a clearer picture. There are a lot of pictures on wikimedia commons/wikipedia that can serve as a starting point for mythological creatures, many of great quality ^^. Feel free to reedit if needed. — Tortliena - inactive, Jan 10 '22 at 16:10
Ah great beast statue, seen it actually.. btw you're probably studying a quite modern interpretation of a 6-legged turtle body, the above work of art dates from 1946, the idea of turtle-man is from the 16th century.. while the myth involving St Martha taming the Tarasque dates back to 47AD. The earliest depiction of the Tarasque is medieval. That was a huge chimaera with the body of a fish and the head of a swine. Ref for backgrounds, https://www.medieval.eu/tarascon-and-the-tarasque/ — Goodies, Jan 10 '22 at 19:50
@Goodies I was the one who added the picture; The old one was unfortunately not pitch-clear, notably due to its very small size. I think the old picture Ichtys added is from 15th-16th centuries perhaps later, shared many physical traits with the one I chose. Gotta get it from the history ^^'. — Tortliena - inactive, Jan 11 '22 at 10:59

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 10 '22 at 17:06

For starters, The shell is far too short.

Out of all the chimeric components, the turtle aspect seems to be the most problematic. Tortoises are known for their ability to retract their legs into their shells, but they are not actually retracting the legs INSIDE the shell. They just tuck them against their shell and voilà, legs protected.

To be anatomically accurate, the Tarasque's shell should be slightly longer to accommodate for the extra pair of legs. Please bear in mind that the gap necessary to tuck in each limb only needs to be the length of the 'forearms' of the Tarasque. Similarly, a longer shell means more room for the rest of the limbs.

Next, the scorpion tail.

The scorpion tail is the only non vertebrate component of the Tarasque, which means it needs a different anatomy to work. The outer shell covering the tail can just be chitin or fused scales. For the bone structure underneath I suggest the seahorse.

Not only is this structure highly resistant but it also protects the tail (the only appendage that can't be completely tucked in) from harm. It also serves as an exoskeleton which combined with scales makes the tail very sturdy. Going for a snake-like tail removes this issue but most Tarasques are depicted with a full on scorpion tail.

The organ placement isn't an issue.

Depending on what kind of shell the Tarasque has there are different solutions. Firstly a full tortoise shell, complete with both the carapace and plastron, would have the exact same organs as a tortoise would. We already have giant Galapagos tortoises so a Tarasque is not beyond belief.

Second, an 'exposed' reptilian stomach would make the organ placement much simpler. For the simple reason that the legs can now be tucked underneath the shell and not on the sides. Many mammals do it and make it seem like they have no limbs at all. Again, not beyond belief.

(Bonus) Spiky shells are a thing.

Not quite like Bowzer, the Black-Knobbed Map Turtle comes close with a similarly spiky shell.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 10 '22 at 14:32

Organs

Due to the doubled body, the organs will need to be properly placed

One simple and nice-seeming solution would be to have the chest-parts in the front of the main body, the stomach and other such organs in the rear of the main body, and the intestines, kidneys, and reproductive organs in the tail

Shell

The shell could easily be explained as a turtle-shell that only involved the top of the anterior ribs. This will give a free spine and backline, on which the sharp scales can be placed

Legs

The legs are an issue, but there is a solution. The shoulders for these legs could be made more ventral, like in chameleons and other lizards, to move them out of the way of the shells. The muscles would still need space, but there is also a solution for this. They could have a pulley system in their tendons, as in birds, to allow a set of medial muscles to pull the legs outwards. This would give the legs a full range of motion