Mermaid
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A mermaid is a mythical aquatic creature possessing the hideous ass end of a fish and the beautiful head and torso of a gorgeous woman. Legends of mermaids, and their counterparts, the wily mermen, first originated circa 1000 BC in Assyria.
Mermaids probably perished in the Great Flood after the destruction of their habitat. Mermaids were thought to be harbingers of disaster and related to the Sirens. Story holds that mermaids would sing beautiful songs to entice men into the ocean where they would drown. A birth defect named Sirenomelia, also known as Mermaid Syndrome, causes the legs to be fused together, like a mermaid's tail, in utero and is usually fatal.Prior to the 19th century creatures of the genus sirenia were commonly thought to be, and called, mermaids.
Another possible source of the mermaid legend is completely human. Before the invention of modern diving technologies, diving for pearls and other ocean-floor goodies was sometimes a largely female occupation. Some notable traditional female divers have been the Ama[wp] of Japan[1] and the Haenyo[wp] of Korea[2].