Northern Kentucky University is studying 'Fiji mermaids'
The "Fiji Mermaid" is the mummified remains of a mysterious creature, 29 cm long, with a fish tail and a fierce appearance, purchased by a US Navy officer in Japan and donated to the Clark County Historical Society in Springfield, Ohio in 1906.
Accompanying documentation suggests the mummy must date from the mid-1800s.
Now, for the first time, researchers have used methods such as X-rays and CT scans to see through this mummy.
"The new approach allows us to observe the specimen from almost every angle, with the hope of being able to see inside the mummy," Live Science quoted project leader Joseph Cress, an X-ray expert at Northern Kentucky University (USA).
Initial investigation results show that the "Fiji mermaid" has the head and body of a monkey, sewn onto the tail of a fish, while the mummy's two arms are the legs of a monitor lizard, most likely the legs of a Komodo dragon.
The images also revealed two wooden stakes inside the mummy, with one driven from head to tail and the other through the shoulder blades, believed to have held the patchwork creature together.
In other words, this is a real-life version of the fictional character "Frankenstein".
Experts are now working on a more detailed reconstruction of the “Fiji mermaid” and its individual parts based on the scans. Once completed, they plan to send the models to zoos and aquariums to determine which specific animal the parts come from.
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