This Feegee Mermaid, among the largest ever discovered at nearly 6ft long, will be on display at the Haunted Village in Las Vegas through October. Because of it’s large size and excellent condition science has been able to uncover more secrets of the mermaids life and evolution than ever before. Far from a amalgamated half man half fish, the feegee (or fiji or feejee) mermaid is fully mammal, although one belong to a previously unknown genus. Osteological analysis points to an ancestor either among the bats or prosimians. Evolutionary biologists believe that the ancestor likely found itself storm swept to a resource poor island in the fijian archaepelago, and took to the sea for food. Over time its arborial or flight structures were adapted for swimming, a process known as retrograde evolution and most familiar outside the scientific community as the process by which penguins evolved from flying birds.

Feegee mermaids are born only a few inches in length, and grow incredibly slowly throughout their lives. Specimens therefore are extremely rare, and usually both small and damaged. It is believed this Feegee was nearly 50 years old at the time of it’s death.