On a shelf in my closet, in a box full of various bones, I re-discovered this little skull that I found at a park a few years ago. I had found it near the water, and It looks somewhat like a dolphin skull but its only 2 and a half inches long. I've never seen another skull like it, and I can't even find any pictures of one like this online.
I took a picture of it, and you can see it here:
http://www.freewebs.com/taxidermy/mysteryskull.JPG
Does anyone know what this could possibly be?
Return to Lifesize Mammal Taxidermy Category Menu
Hey, that looks like a deer skull missing the sides of the face. Since you found it near the water, it was probably old and got washed up. The water could have broken it up and smoothed it out along the edges. Just a guess.
Ninsa
Some sea creature.
Some sea creature.
Definately not a deer. I like the idea of sea creature myself. Possibly the "Creature from the Black Lagoon"? Or dolphin?
Its not a deer, because its only 2 inches long. Its probably some fetal sea animal...
I think it's a bird skull. Maybe a gull or cormorant.
-Nate
Definately a bird. It looks nothing like any cetacea (dolphin, whale, etc), nor a deer. Going by the suture running along the crest at the back, the size of the orbits, the arrangements of the nasal bones, the apparent evidence of a well developed vomer etc, and the small size of the skull itself... its a bird. Fetal mammmals arent going to have sutures as tight as what is evident therein, nor would they be calcified enough to be preserved in such a state. I have in front of me a wild turkey skull that looks almost identical to the photo you provided, save that the nasal bones on my skull are not as tranversely expanded (each bone is more narrow) than what your photo depicts.
The bird part is almost a certainty - Id give it a 95%. Beyond that it gets into a spot of speculation... but I'd wager Pelican. Gulls and cormomarants have more slender nasal bones, as the maxillary bones that articulate into/under them to create the bill arent that wide. Pelicans however have more robust bills and have wider nasals. The top of the skull isn't flatened enough to be duck or goose...
If I had only one pick... Id feel safest with the pic provided in calling it a pelican. Secondary choice would be turkey - but Im still 'iffy' on that one. The area over the orbits look nearly identical, as does the depression between orbits on top of the head.. but the nasal width has me uncertain.
Even if it IS setting in front of bird books. That skull ridge at the back of the skull is now and always has been mammalian unless my 10th grade biology teacher lied to me. A bird skull will invariably "come together" in front of the eye orbits. Since it IS in front of those books, IF it were a bird, it would have had to have been a very VERY big bird and one that's likely extinct now. The bones in the picture behind it are also huge and resemble mammalian bones.
Give us a clue as to what region you found this?
It's defenately a bird, most likely a member of the Pelicaniformes. It looks like a brown pelican to me, but I'm not entirely sure because the upper part of the eye socked is shaped a little different. It looks a bit worn though. Take a look at this pic : http://www.skullsunlimited.com/graphics/brown-pelican-skull-lg.jpg
Greetings Peter
That pelican skull looks almost exactly like it! I don't know why I never thought of that. I used to have a complete pelican skull, but I donated it to a nature center, and never thought to compare the two. Also, pelicans used to die a lot at that park where I found it, so now this all makes sense! Thanks!
=)