A beached whale found on Japan's southern coast five months ago has turned out to be the first complete adult remains seen of an extremely rare species.
Experts identified the 21 foot creature as a female Longman's beaked whale.
Five other remains of the elusive species have been collected in Australia, Somalia and South Africa, but those were mostly skeletal or young. Scientists have never identified a living Longman's whale.
The tan and grey whale that washed up in late July provided scientists the first whole, adult specimen, said marine researcher Nobutaka Kubo.
"We did some follow-up on the whale because we buried it without knowing what it exactly was, and later received information that it might have been a rare species," Kubo said. "So we went back and dug it up a week later."
Longman's beaked whales, also known as Indo-Pacific beaked whales, have long beak-shaped mouths and resemble elongated dolphins.
They also have forward-pointing teeth in the lower jaw. Little is known about their numbers or habits.
Much about the Longman's whale remains unknown, including how many there are and where they live. It's unclear whether the whales are endangered or only rarely spotted because they live in deep waters in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
