The picture below, circulated widely on the Internet by
bloggers and in emails, was said to depict a real
human-dog hybrid. It in fact is a picture of a
sculpture
by artist Patricia Piccinini, from her 2003 exhibition
"We Are Family ."

Those concerned with cloned and genetically modified
animals often ask: Have scientists gone too far? What
are the implications of new frontiers in genetics?

One horrific answer appeared recently in a widely-
circulated story: "Israeli scientists are examining what
appears to be a trans-species between a Labrador
retriever and human. While genetically considered
impossible, humane workers found remains of an
earlier trans-species, believed to be the parent of the
animal pictured above, shallow buried in the owner's
property. The human parent of the animals is believed
to be the teen-aged son of the family well known in
politics. DNA studies are in process and results are
expected early next month."

It was accompanied by a photo of what appeared to be
a strange half-woman, half-dog (or pig) hybrid mother
nursing its young. The image has flooded inboxes
around the world, accompanied by messages—some
satirical, others clearly serious — often suggesting that
the image is a horrific warning of the consequences
of genetic manipulation (or, perhaps, bestiality).

Of course this hybrid doesn't exist. It's not an actual
animal but instead a sculpture by artist Patricia
Piccinini, from her 2003 exhibition "We Are Family."

It's not clear how many people were actually fooled by
the photograph — it's likely that many simply
forwarded the image (or a link to the image) to friends
as timekilling curiosity instead of a dire warning. The
Snopes Urban Legend Web site debunked this
photograph back in 2007, though the humanpigdog
photo has a life of its own and will likely continue to be
resurrected from time to time, either accidentally or
intentionally as a hoax.

People love a mystery, and people especially love a
mystery that comes with a weird photo.

The Half-Human Hybrid hoax is only the latest in a
long series of supposedly mysterious photos. Typically
these photographs have three elements in common:
They are at least somewhat realistic; they are odd or
strange enough to attract curiosity; and perhaps most
importantly, they are misidentified.

How do these things get started?

Often, as in this case, there is no intentional hoaxing: It
is a legitimate, straightforward photograph of
something curious. Often the photographs were
created as an art project, as was the case with
theBorneo Monster image that circulated (and which I
helped disprove) in February. Many artworks, such as
those by Piccinini and hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck,
could easily be mistaken for a bizarre, seemingly
mysterious phenomenon when seen out of context.

Other times the subject is real but presumably
unknown to the photographer, as was the case with
the Montauk Monsters (aka decaying raccoons) found
in July 2008 and May 2009.

After all, it's much easier to
create a "mystery photo" than a half-human hybrid.