From Olmec jaguar into Mexica rain god

For instance, the snarling ripper lip of the jaguar, when shown in profile, curls and stretches considerably to form the trunk-like mouth of the Maya Chaac; the toothless gum and its central septum (incisal pad) evolve into various appendages and teeth that result in the complicated mouths of dragons and serpent-like monsters with curling snouts and elaborate fangs. The cloud dragon or sky serpent, one of the principal art motifs of the Classic cultures, could have developed from an altered profile version of an early jaguar mask. it appears in early times as a sort of dragon, with the body formed by volutes, probably clouds, on a stela found at Tres Zapotes - see second picture. This concept probably evolved into the plumed serpent, as well as into the double-headed serpent, such as the ceremonial bar held in the arms of Maya priests, or curved into a U shape, as in the strange objects from the Gulf Coast known as “stone yokes”. All this goes to show that, after all, the “Olmec” culture is one of the mother cultures of Middle America.

Jaguar head with body of clouds, from Stela D, Tres Zapotes, Veracruz - illustration by Miguel Covarrubias