One of the first websites to share the picture, Social Trends PH, didn’t say much about it other than the fact that it was shot in South Africa. An alleged darkest baby in the world that was recently born in South Africa is making buzz in social media. Many netizens however are asking if this photo is real or fake.

By quick research, the photo has no origin or nobody claims it. There is also no report from the mainstream media about this news. Guinness World Records doesn’t have this information also from their online database. Here is the photo.

The earliest online appearance of this picture we could uncover dated from on 10 June 2015, when it was posted by Twitter user @NaimHumphrey, in a tweet that was also void of information other than the oft repeated “South Africa” claim.

So where did this photograph come from? Was the world’s “darkest baby” really born in South Africa? While we were not able to uncover the specific origins of the photograph, we were able to determine that the figure shown in the image is not a baby at all, but a doll: the clay art doll

The doll was created by “Breath of Heaven” artist Lilah Pearsons: “I began sculpting in 2005 drawing my inspiration from my love of animals. I started selling my artwork online in 2006, and since then, I’ve had a successful business manufacturing dolls. Every every doll I create begins as a lump of polymer clay that transforms into something I honestly have no idea where it came from. Every time I start to sculpt, it’s a fresh experience, and I lose myself in the work. At times frustrating, and always a learning and growing experience.”

I love Monkeys!!!! They are some of the most enjoyable little faces to sculpt. Each of my primates is a half sculpture with a soft body that allows for a variety of poses. Quality doe suede bodies loaded with small pellets are used to make them. I make all of their apparel myself. Pearson’s website and her eBay store show several examples of similar small dolls.