The Aerophant is based on a fictional creature in the 1987 Spanish art book Fauna, featuring photographs of supposedly real, newly discovered creatures and written by a fictional German Zoologist Peter Ameisenhaufen. The Aerophant's depiction of holding a feather in its trunk is most likely a reference to Dumbo, the 1941 Walt Disney animated film about a big-eared baby elephant who learns to fly after being encouraged by crows giving him a "magic feather" that boosts his confidence.