Locals are perplexed as to what kind of animal the skeleton of a mysterious marine monster that washed up on a beach could be.

It was initially believed that the odd creature, which was discovered on a beach in Canterbury, New Zealand, was an alien.

Can you identify the monster now?

The creature appeared to have two legs and a tail, in addition to two ‘wings’, a fine set of teeth and a long point protruding from its head.

The skeleton gave Hanna Mary and her mother a huge shock when they spotted it while out on a beach walk, the NZ Herald reported.

‘My first thought was that it was something alien, but I was more fascinated than anything,’ Hanna told the NZ Herald.

The pair decided to take the creature to a taxidermist in the hope that they would be able to clear up the mystery.

Unfortunately the taxidermist was left just as stumped after inspecting the creature and decided to posit the question to Facebook.

Many people have guessed that it is, in fact, a skate.

‘I would say a very deep water skate,’ one person commented.

‘That ain’t no fish!’ wrote another alarmed Facebook user.

Skates are a type of fish that have cartilage instead of bone and enlarged pectoral fins attached to their heads forming a disc-shaped body.

Similarly to Rays, their wings are often eaten.