A DNA investigation has been launched to confirm its classification.
The species is "so rare next to nothing is known about them", the New Zealand conservation department said.
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The body of a spade-toothed whale - a species so rare it has never been seen alive - appears to have washed up on a New Zealand beach, scientists say.
The remains of the obscure, five-metre (16.4 foot) long, beaked creature were found near a river mouth in southern Otago province on July 4, government researchers said.
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