Jenny Haniver

A Jenny Haniver is the carcass of a ray or a skate that has been modified by hand then dried, resulting in a mummified specimen intended to resemble a fanciful fictional creature, such as a demon or dragon.

[1][3] Jenny Hanivers have been created to look like various mythical creatures, including devils, angels and dragons.

[1] The earliest known picture of Jenny Haniver appeared in Konrad Gesner's Historia Animalium vol.

Gesner warned that these were merely disfigured rays and should not be believed to be miniature dragons or monsters, which was a popular misconception at the time.

For this reason it was easy to pass off Jenny Hanivers as these creatures, which were still widely feared in the 16th century.