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Following a week of speculation, and closer inspection, experts are still no closer to identifying exactly what the mystery crocodile-style object is buried in a Siberian river.

Fisherman supposedly bumped into the head of the 'rock' last week, and it was apparently confirmed by scientists to be an ancient lizard or even a dinosaur.

Now a video has emerged which takes a closer look at the 'remains' and several professors have told MailOnline 'it looks too good to be true and may be a hoax'.

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Fisherman in Siberia claim to have found remarkably intact remains of an ancient lizard (shown). They supposedly found the crocodile-like head while on a fishing trip. And when they sent photos to experts they were told it was likely a lizard or dinosaur from 150 million years ago

The discovery was made by fisherman from the Wild North Fishing Club were travelling by boat down the Ruta-Ru River in the Yamal Peninsula of northern Russia.

Their boat struck something that they initially thought was a boulder, but on closer examination had a somewhat more familiar appearance. 

Club chairman Yevgeny Svitov said at the time: 'It was hard to miss, because the boat driven by my colleague Oleg Yushkov had bumped against it. When he looked to see what it was he found this huge head.'

Following the recent inspection, Professor Sergey Gashev, head of Zoology and Ichthyology at Tyumen State University, told the Siberian Times: 'We plan to go on an expedition to the river next year with scientists from the Yamal Peninsula to prove to the world that it is not a river stone but the remains of an ancient animal.'

But Eugenia Khozyainova, a senior researcher from the Shemanovsky Museum in Salekhard, was more sceptical.

She said it looks like a big boulder, and there are no eye sockets nor any sign of a skull. But added 'it is just so bizarre looking.'

Following the find, club chairman Yevgeny Svitov said the fishermen photographed it and when they got back they emailed the picture to the Zoological Museum of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology in the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Their scientists came back to them to say that they believed it was the fossilised remains of a lizard that had lived about 150 million years ago, reports The Siberian Times.

The Institute's head Pavel Kosintsev said that it was not the first report of fossil discoveries in the region but it was the first photographic evidence that the rumours were 'true'.

He said all the indications were that there is possibly a wealth of similar fossils in the area.

'We have dispatched an expedition there to investigate the remains and secure them for future study,' he said.

'At this stage though it's difficult to be precise about exactly what the find shows.'

The institute is confident that the remains have significant scientific value and they are hoping to recover them before the spring thaw washes them away.

However, speaking to MailOnline other experts expressed their scepticism that the find was real.

'If it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly isn't,' Dr Tim Palmer of the Paleontological Association told MailOnline.

The mystery object is circled in this image. Professor Sergey Gashev, head of Zoology and Ichthyology at Tyumen State University, believes it to be one of the first reptiles

'If it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly isn't,' Dr Tim Palmer of the Paleontological Association told MailOnline. 'If it was genuine, old and reworked then it wouldn't be in the apparently good condition that the picture tries to suggest

'If it was genuine, old and reworked then it wouldn't be in the apparently good condition that the picture tries to suggest. Especially in the pebbly and erosive bed of a river.

'My personal opinion is that someone has buried a stuffed crocodile - or even a large model - in a river bed in order to make some sort of mischief.'

And Dr Ivan Sansom, Senior Lecture in Palaeobiology at Birmingham University, agrees: 'Finding a fossil skull in the bid of a river is entirely feasible, but it would be a very lucky find to uncover a specimen as intact as illustrated,' he says. 

The discovery was made by fisherman from the Wild North Fishing Club were travelling by boat down the Ruta-Ru River in the Yamal peninsula of northern Russia (shown). Their boat struck something that they initially thought was a boulder, but on closer examination had a somewhat more familiar appearance

If true the find may have been a marine reptile called Dakosaurus-maximus (illustration shown). However speaking to MailOnline several professors expressed scepticism that the find was real and say it may be a hoax, with one saying it was 'too good to be true'

Dr Richard Butler of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at Birmingham University says: 'Without seeing an image of the specimen when it is not almost entirely covered with water it is impossible for me to determine if it is indeed a fossil - it may well turn out simply to be an odd shaped rock.

'What look very superficially like teeth could easily be plants growing on the rock for example!

'At this stage I don¹t think we can say anything about this and its potential scientific significance. I am skeptical as to whether it is even be a fossil.'

Scientists are trying to figure out if it is a 'Dakosaurus-maximus' dating from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, as Siberian naturalist Pavel Sitnikov argues, or a freak of nature, a rock appearing to have sharp teeth

The discovery was made by fisherman from the Wild North Fishing Club were travelling by boat down the Ruta-Ru River in the Yamal Peninsula of northern Russia

And Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology Mike Benton from Bristol University was particularly skeptical of the veracity of the find.

'Well, what can I say. It's a fake,' he claims.

'It looks a bit like the snout of a crocodile, maybe stuffed, maybe carved in wood, maybe fossil, set up in the pebbles on the bottom of the river and photographed as a student-style prank.'

Meanwhile Professor David Martill, a Reader in Palaeobiology from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Portsmouth says: 'The picture of the skull is unclear because of the water running over it, but first impressions suggest it is something with a long snout and pointed teeth. Thus a carnivore. It could be a bear.

'However, there is the possibility that it is is a much older fossil. 

'Siberia is rich in Cretaceous strata which might contain any number of fossils reptiles from marine mosasaurs [a type of extinct marine reptile] to terrestrial dinosaurs. 

But he adds: 'Why on earth the guys didn't haul it out of the water to get a better view is beyond me. Perhaps it is a hoax.'

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