US Scientists have taken a CT scan of a nearly 130-year-old "Mermaid" mummy and discovered it was made from a fish, monkey and reptile.
The mummy was made from at least three different animals. Photo: Norse Media
The mummy was brought back from Japan by an American sailor and donated to the Clark County Historical Society in Springfield, Ohio, in 1906. With its terrifying face, strange teeth, oversized jaw, fish-like lower body with gray hair, the mummy has impressed museum visitors for decades. However, through X-rays and CT scans, researchers have been able to determine its true nature for the first time, the Mail reported on October 24 .
"It appears to be a composite of at least three different species. The head and torso appear to be from a monkey, the hands appear to be from a reptile like a crocodile or lizard, and the tail appears to be from an unknown fish," said Joseph Cress, a radiologist at Northern Kentucky University.
Natalie Fritz, a representative of the Clark County Historical Society, said the mummy could date back to the 1870s because records show the donor served in the US Navy. Dr. Cress said the CT scan will allow researchers to take “slices” of the object and determine what animal its parts came from. The data will be sent to experts at the Cincinnati Zoo and Newport Aquarium to help determine the mummy’s origins.
Research on the "Mermaid" mummy. Photo: Norse Media
A similar mummy has been housed in the Enju-in Temple in Asakuchi, Japan, for many years. It is about 30 centimeters long, has a hairy monkey-like upper body, a scaly fish tail, and sharp teeth. In February 2022, a team of researchers at Kurashiki University of Science and Arts (KUSA) analyzed the mummy using surface observations as well as X-ray and CT scans.
They found that the creature had no bones except for its jaw. The upper half of its body was covered in pufferfish skin, while the lower tail was made of red-spotted fish skin. The fur on the creature's head was mammalian hair, while its jawbone came from an unidentified carnivorous fish. The nails on the mummy's fingers were animal keratin, possibly ground from some type of horn. Inside the mummy's body were only cloth, paper, and cotton. The body was covered in a mixture made by mixing powdered coal or sand with paste and plaster.
An Khang (According to Mail )
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