East Lansing (Michigan/USA) - What is that? A strange mummy was discovered during construction work at Michigan State University. Scientists are faced with a mystery.

The mummified creature is almost 30 centimetres long, has razor-sharp teeth and resembles a bizarre cross between a rat and a dog. The skin looks burnt and the face is disfigured into a grotesque grimace.

Construction workers made the disturbing discovery in May 2018 in the ceiling of a building at the venerable Michigan State University, reports anthropologist Jerielle Cartales. Since then, the creature has kept archaeologists and biologists busy.

While researchers initially suspected that it could be an opossum, this assumption has since been refuted. According to another theory, it could be a dog. Some even wanted to recognize a large rat or even a cat.

The creature is calledCapacabra in reference to the legendary Chupacabra - a mythical creature from Latin folklore that hunts farm animals at night to suck their blood. What it really is, however, is still unclear.

Now researcher Jerielle Cartales wants to solve the mystery of the capacabra once and for all. She reports on her progress to the newspaper"The State News". She suspects that the mysterious animal must have been relatively young when it died. This is what an analysis of the bones would have revealed. Meanwhile, she rules out the possibility that it was a dog or an opossum . The shape of the skull does not fit, she explains. Nevertheless, it is "very cute".

The researcher suspects that the creature is a mummified raccoon . "A raccoon fits in well with our friend, as it tends to get lost in strange places like the ceiling."

Further research is necessary.