It turns out a partially decomposed foot found in a Virginia resident's backyard isn't human - and may not even be a foot.

On Saturday, Fairfax County police said a resident found a "decomposed human foot" in the 5900 block of Brunswick Drive in Springfield. The Medical Examiner’s Office looked at pictures and confirmed the foot was human at the time.

But after consulting an anthropologist, authorities now believe the body part is likely a bear paw, police said on Thursday.

Officers who saw the foot Saturday canvassed the neighborhood to find out if there’d been any recent suspicious activity.

They got permission to check other yards for remains and found bones in a nearby backyard, but they appeared to be from an animal. Police said at the time they did not believe those bones were related to the foot.

The remains have been sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for further investigation, police said. It will take several weeks for forensic test results to confirm what the body part actually is, police said.