Is it a bird? Is it a dog?

An animal with the body of a dog and huge wings was photographed running along a New Zealand beach.

The mythical Dog-Bird was captured by Megan Whiteley, a biomedical scientist whose image has gone viral.

It has over 730,000 views on the Imgur website.

Ms Whiteley revealed that the quirky snap is actually a trick of perspective.

The 22-year-old was photographing a friend's dog running along the beach when the unusual optical illusion occurred.

Ms Whiteley, from Hamilton, explains: ‘The dog is a friend's and is called Snoopy. He is obsessed with chasing seagulls and I managed to get this shot as I followed him, running with my zoom using sports mode to capture shots quickly.’

Comments on Imgur so far have included ‘More than a dog, more than a bird, it's a dogbird!’ and ‘Now cats do not stand a chance at all!’Although one person wondered of the practicalities of the new species, commenting: ‘Now imagine a giant mound of dogpoop hitting your windshield and landing in your coffee.’(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az