tagged w/ stronsay beast
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A sea "creature" washed up on an island shore two centuries ago could be identified by pioneering DNA techniques.
The animal was dubbed the Stronsay Beast after it was found on the island in Orkney in 1808.
It was once suggested that it was a basking shark, but the claim has been disputed because of its unusually large size.
Others claim it had a long neck that made it resemble caricatures of the Loch Ness Monster.
Yvonne Simpson, a geneticist who has been studying the remains since 2001, believes newly-recovered bone fragments may finally help to solve the mystery.
She said that due to the well-preserved nature of the fragments,
which were given to her by a private collector earlier this year, she may be able to extract DNA.
She then hopes to send the samples to a recently-established laboratory in Florida that holds a database of shark DNA.
Dr Simpson, who works in archaeogenetics the analysis of DNA recovered from archaeological remains said the new DNA sequences could make identification possible for the first time.
She added: "At 55ft long this would be an unusually big basking shark, and it's far more likely to belong to another member of the shark family.
"If I get permission from America for this to go ahead, we could know the answer within a couple of months."
Some fragments of the creature are preserved at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, but other parts of the carcass were taken away after it washed up on Stronsay.
Dr Simpson said the fragments she had been given were "very well looked after". She will give a talk on the creature at the Orkney International Science Festival next Friday.A sea "creature" washed up on an island shore two centuries ago could be... more
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