The mystery object I showed you on Friday was this:
Height to shoulder 15cm
The correct answer was in fact the hedgehog.
I was a bit surprised when the poll showed the following distribution of answers:
Distribution of answers - correct answer in red
So many of you got it wrong that I feel a blog coming on about how to identify a skull – a grey squirrel (or any other rodent) for example would have a huge gap between the front teeth (incisors) and the teeth in its cheek (molars). However, the hedgehog is a tricky one, so kudos to all for trying!
There are several indicators (beside the size) that give this away, as shown on the image below.
A = Canines similar to neighbouring teeth with no diastema (gap),
B = no postorbital bar on zygomatic arch (cheekbone),
C = no postorbital process.
So congratulations to those who got it and for those who didn’t I suggest taking a look at Will’s Skull Page, which is an excellent resource for identifying skulls.
Given the popularity of this Friday Mystery Object I think I may continue along a similar theme this Friday – unless you’d prefer something different – let me know in the comments below!
Zygoma 
I will never look at a hedgehog in the same way again!
I had no idea a hedgehog was so big! I dismissed that one straightaway simply on the basis of size.
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Great blog, and thanks for the link ! I am thinking of adding a bird pelvis section to my website (don’t ask) and wondered whether the Horniman held many bird skeletons, especially of european and american birds.
Regards
Will Higgs
Will’s Skull Page
Thanks Will, been a fan of your site for at least 10 years now!
The Horniman has around 300 items of skeletal bird material, although quite a bit of that will be skulls or mounted skeletons. The species represented are pretty much global in distribution.
I am planning to start looking at our bird osteology next week as it so happens, so I will keep my eyes peeled for any pelvises with identifications for you.
Feel free to use any of my images for your site by the way – I know they aren’t formatted in the way you prefer, but the ones from the last couple of years have scale bars and may be of use.
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