The mystery of the "Fiji Mermaid" solved: the creature is a mutant of fish, monkey, and reptile (photo)

Scientists have conducted a thorough study of a mermaid mummy from Fiji found by an American sailor in Japan in 1906. They stated that it is a mutant of fish, monkey, and reptile.

According to the Daily Mail, the world-famous mysterious mummy was examined by CT scan and X-ray. "It is a Frankenstein animal made of three different species," said Joseph Kress, a radiologist at the University of Northern Kentucky (USA), who conducted the study.

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This mermaid has a crooked face, melon teeth, and huge claws. Her lower part resembles a fishtail, and her head is covered with gray hair.

Joseph Kress noted: "It has the head and body of an ape, arms like amphibian legs, almost like an alligator, crocodile, or some kind of lizard. And then there's that fish tail - again, an unknown species."

He added that the creature was "sculpted, almost Frankenstein-like."

Researchers believe the creature could be over 150 years old. They need to do some more research to find out if it is a real creature or artificially made.

The data will be sent to experts from the Cincinnati Zoo and the Newport Aquarium to determine which creatures, if any, were combined to form this mermaid.

In Japan itself, some legends say that mermaids grant immortality to those who eat their meat. One temple in Asakuchi even worshipped the Fiji mermaid, although it later turned out that she was made of fabric, paper, and cotton, decorated with fish scales and animal hair.

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