Delving deeper into the world of natural history this week, with the second of my Friday Mystery Objects!
This should be much easier than last week’s object since you only need to work out what it is and I have provided two views (scale is in cm BTW). If it proves too simple I will up the difficulty next week!
As before, put you thoughts in the comments section below. Answer will follow on Monday in a seperate post and I may drop in some extra clues if they’re needed.
Zygoma 
Is it your lunch? 😛
I’d say the shell of some kind of crustacean
Nope – not even close.
What is known in the Yorkshire trade as ‘snail-tripe’
If that’s what I thing it is then no. If it’s not what I think it is then maybe, but I very much doubt it!
Is it Mike Tyson’s ear?
I know he’s a big chap with swollen ears, but even so I doubt he has 13cm ears – that’s twice the length of mine, never mind the volume or mass!
However, you currently hold the honour of having the closest guess so far.
Is it the skull of a chav who had his face punched in by Mike Tyson?
LOL! Don’t hear about the chavs and hoodies as much as you did in 2009. To be fair, they were a lot less stabby.
Is it the mandible of a gurning champion?
No and no.
Come on guys, this is an easy one!
Nick has come closest but it’s nothing to do with Mike Tyson.
At this rate the difficult one I have lined up for next week will have to be shelved in favour of something really easy!
If you ask some deductive questions I will try to answer them – but I won’t say what it is until Monday.
Is it a cochlea PaoloV?
Close enough to count! It is indeed part of an ear structure, although not the cochlea itself. The next thing to identify is the type of beastie it belongs to – no need to worry about species level, just the Order will do!
A whale?
You’ve got it! If you can give the actual name of the structure you gain an extra 10 kudos points.
The bulla?
Kudos!
Tympanic Bulla, Middle Ear Bone of a Whale
Probably a fossil, 3-5 million years old if no dna is present
Tympanic bulla it is, although it’s recent – probably 19th Century.