“Japanese Mermaid” puzzle – three different types of animals combined

In 1906, an American sailor brought a mysterious and terrifying artifact to the United States from Japan.

The body resembles a mummy and was donated to the Clark County Historical Society Museum in Springfield. With large claws, a scowling face, gaping teeth, a fish-like underpart, and a thin layer of gray hair, it has frightened museum visitors for years.

Now the mystery of the “Japanese Mermaid”, or the “Fijian Mermaid” as it is also called, may have an answer after the body is X-rayed and examined by scientists. Daily Mail reports.

– It appears to be a combination of at least three different species externally, says Joseph Kress, a radiologist at Northern Kentucky University.

This is how the puzzle will be solved

When the researchers scanned the body, they discovered that the head and chest came from a monkey, the hands from a crocodile or lizard, and the tail from a type of fish. It has not yet been possible to determine exactly which species make up the composition.

According to Joseph Kress, the X-rays should allow researchers to analyze the body piece by piece and hopefully determine whether any part of it is an actual animal.

“So we do this with all parts of the ‘Fijian mermaid’, not just the head and face but also the chest and tail,” he says, according to the Daily Mail.

All data will then be sent to experts at the Cincinnati Zoo, to determine which animals are included to create the “mermaid.”

There is a saying in Japan that whoever eats the meat of a mermaid becomes immortal. There is also a temple in Asakoshi where the Fijian mermaid was worshiped. It later became clear that the mermaid in the temple was made of cloth, paper and cotton and was decorated with fish scales and animal hair.