This Friday I’m going for a mystery object that I’m sure you will all identify to species without any problem – it’s pretty big and pretty distinctive. Hopefully this object will give me a chance to write an interesting answer on Monday, so I can use it as a stand-alone post for a guest blogging spot I’m doing for Scientopia for a couple of weeks starting on Sunday. I’m intending to use this guest-spot to get myself motivated to tackle the various posts I’ve been wanting to cover for some time now.
Unfortunately, I’ve managed to time this slot quite badly, since I also need to prepare for a SITP talk that I’m giving on Monday 21st Feb and a Cafe Scientifique on the evening of Thurday 24th Feb (if you missed the last one, here’s the write-up). It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks…
On to the reason you came here – the Friday mystery object:
Any idea what this is?
As usual you can put your suggestions, comments and questions below and I’ll do my best to offer guidance. Good luck!
Zygoma 
Teeth are like a dog, and it’s quite doggy. It is huge ! About a big as a red deer skull. Maybe something like this ?
http://www.skullsite.co.uk/Greenland/greenland.htm
PS. I am first to post because I have to do it before I go to school.
The teeth are indeed very doggy, but it is huge – 27cm (that’s almost 10.5″) 6cm longer than the Husky. It also won’t sit horizontal on a surface like the Husky, because of the shape of the lower jaw.
I’m going to cry wolf…
Even bigger than one of them!
A baboon?
Not a babboon – they have a complete bony ring around the eye. Very similar shape to the skull though.
Would I be right in thinking you wouldn’t see one of these around today?
You might see one, although their skulls don’t look quite the same today.
From sheer size I was wondering about Dire Wolf? Or is that maybe too big? Also the snout looks a little too compact.
My other thought was domestic dog, something like an Irish Wolfhound.
Average Dire wolf skulls are about 29cm long (maximum known is about 33cm) I think – so this is probably in the lower range for Canis dirus.
Although it isn’t one.
Quite pleased with myself for thinking “dog” before I read the comments. Big doggy, ooh-what-big-teeth-you-have-grandma doggy. But bigger even than a wolf and with a different shape jaw … a marsupial wolf? Wild guess that!
Funnily enough I was contemplating using a marsupial ‘wolf’, but they are much smaller than this big beastie!
Cave bear?
It is actually about the same size as a Black bear skull that we have in the collections.
Thylacine!?
…I’m just making random stabs in the dark now.
Nope – they were pretty small in comparison.
It looks pretty doggy to me. I’m going for a domestic dog, since many breeds have changed shape considerably in the last hundred years or so. One of the giant breeds, possibly a great dane?
Oooh, it’s in the right size range, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a Great dane.
Hmm, close but no cigar. St Bernard? Their skulls are pretty massive.
I spent a long time deliberating over this one and I concluded that it isn’t a St. Bernard… although VERY similar.
Irish wolfhound?
Not an Irish wolfhound
I’m thinking dog as well, English Bull Mastiff?
Not a Bull mastiff either!
Is it a domestic dog though, are we on the right track?
Oh yes – you are certainly on the right track!
Shall we work our way through the breeds? 😉
Ok, Bernese Mountain dog. I have to say, I’ll be very impressed with your reference selection if you have it to an exact breed!
There’s a story relating to that actually – have you not seen our dog head and skull wall? Take a look here. I think this may be a specimen that didn’t make the selection for the wall.
Tasmanian Wolf.
OK, if not a St Bernard, then maybe a Newfoundland? They’re very closely related breeds.
😉
Obviously a canine from the shape, and the size implies its one of the really big domestic ones. A mastiff, perhaps?
I see somebody has already guessed mastiff, and that’s been ruled out. (Well, okay, there are other mastiffs besides the bull, so its still possible, I guess). Rachel’s suggestion of Newfoundland makes sense, though.
Marsupials don’t have a sclerotic ring, so Tasmanian Devil is out. I thought you said your skull has two sclerotic rings. If that’s the case, it sounds like they don’t belong there. Crocodilians don’t have them, mammals don’t have them. You said this organism isn’t extinct. So if it exists, it’s probably a hoax or made for TV or for a photo shoot of some sort. Like maybe to look like a dinosaur skull, even though it isn’t.
Sorry – I was referring to the complete post-orbital bar that gives primates an enclosed orbit, rather than a sclerotic ring.
Not a domestic dog? Then what about a wild ancestor? A Canadian timber wolf? Is it extant?
It’s definitely a canine, with those carnassials it’s not a bear or a seal. If it’s not a large dog breed it must be some kind of wolf.
Oooh! What about an African hunting dog (Lycaon pictus)?
Mind you, it looks just like a german shepherd to me if I’m honest!
Canine it is, much bigger than an African hunting dog or a German shepherd.
Ok, I know nothing of vert morphology, but since most other critters appear to be about ruled out, how about a hyaenid?
I suspect its too large, even for a spotted hyena, which is the biggest living species. Significantly, however, hyenids have exceptionally large teeth, for cracking through solid bone, which this animal does not.
The shape of the skull and teeth say to me that it’s definitely a canid, and a member of the genus Canis at that. It can, however, be really tricky to tell the different members of this genus apart on the basis of shape alone.
The clue here is the size of the thing – were it not for that, it would be hard to rule out a coyote or jackal without looking very closely indeed.
However, its so large that I think we can be confident in saying that it’s either an exceptionally large wolf, or some breed of domestic dog. Getting it down to the exact breed is, I feel sure, the only remaining question. (And a number of options have yet to be ruled out on that front).
Great rationale and you’re spot on in your conclusion – it is a domestic dog and it is a very big breed.
Leonberger?
The muzzle is a bit too short
Caucasian Shepherd?
You can’t really see from this image, but the skull is too narrow.
I guess Newfoundland.
I think it looks like the bottom two on this page but I don’t know which is which:
http://frietsongalis.nl/
😉 Well done, particularly since that’s a confusingly labelled diagram – they are all St. Bernards!