The picture shows a long stick made of skin with jaws of a mystery beast at the top with horse hair attached. No one seems to know why it exists.
The image of the mysterious object taken in Brisbane, Australia was posted to Reddit by user u/hazelnutnut.
Hazelnutnut said in a caption to the photo that they were looking for identification of the jaws.
“It looks like a shark but the top jaws are very tapered. Any suggestions will be welcome to solve this mystery as I have no idea!” hazelnutnut wrote in a caption to the picture.
The Reddit user told Newsweek that so far, there have been “no real concrete explanations” as to what the object is.
“But most think [the jaws are from] some kind of shark,” they said. “I purchased it a few years back from a junkyard for AU$45 [about $30]. The pole is covered in some type of skin… no idea what … with black bands painted on. Pretty creepy!”
The photo freaked out other social media users with many expressing confusion as to what it could be.
“What the actual duck,” one Reddit user said.
“Barbara from beetle juice?” another said, referencing the 1988 movie starring Michael Keaton.
One Reddit user said the object could have been made for use in certain aboriginal ceremonies.
“I can tell you for certain, it’s not indigenous. It doesn’t match anything they used in their ceremonies, nor does it match their overall style of made objects for ceremonial or other use,” the user said.
Others posted ideas as to what the jaws could belong to. Most people agreed that the jaws could be from some type of shark.
Shark jaws are very unique, meaning they can usually be identified by experts fairly easily. The structure of a shark’s jaw is designed to make them effective weapons for hunting pray.
While most upper jaws are firmly attached to an animal’s skull, a shark’s jaw is able to detach and move freely. This means it is able to move flexibly when the shark is attacking its prey.
“Def shark jaws, but if you don’t dry them right, they fold in on themselves like that because it’s all just cartilage,” one Reddit user said.
“I 100% agree that it’s a shark, highly distorted in drying. It’s also mounted upside-down (lower jaw is on the top of the staff),” another user said. “Exact species is hard to know, but looking at the tooth shapes, it seems to be some sort of Requiem Shark, possibly genus Carcharhinus (which includes things like bull sharks, oceanic whitetips, sandbar sharks, etc.). Very speciose group and not as rare as other sharks, including around Aus[tralia], so good odds.”
Another user said it could even be the jaws of a large snake.
“I think it’s from a big snake. Teeth remind me of a snake anyway. Does the lower mandible split?” the Reddit user said.
In response, hazelnutnut said: “I just checked it out and it only looks like it’s been split at the very top to fit on the stick that’s holding it …everything else intact. Snakes (large) don’t have double rows of serrated teeth I’m sure….”
