This week I’m giving you a genuine mystery object – it was found in the collections without any kind of label or identification:
I’m pretty sure I know what it’s from, but I’d really appreciate your thoughts, in case I’m missing something. Cheers!
Zygoma
Adventures in natural history collections
Zygoma 
It’s a left adult femur from something. It looks like a big animal or human ?
PS. Can I say my news ?
It is indeed a left adult femur from something of a decent size – but not human.
Feel free to share your news!
Cool ! I’m on Autumnwatch tonight talking about my bones with Chris Packham – it’s the 8.30pm programme on BBC1, about 40 minutes in. Thanks Paolo !
Saw your piece on Autumnwatch, Jake. What a great bone collection you have! Good ID on the sternum, too!
I’ll have a go at the mystery object, just wanted to quickly congratulate Jake on his forthcoming TV appearance, and the praise from Chris Packham! I joined in singing your praises via Twitter this morning. Well done.
Its mammalian. Not sure what species though.
Yep, definitely mammalian
Mortal remains of the first man to win a three legged race
It certainly looks like it’s been a bit mangled…
Long-limbed animal, quite robust. Looks quite like a chimpanzee femur, but seems a bit short.
😉 Banana.
a) Congratulations Jake!
b) I started thinking it was three bones and then realised it was three shots of the same one. Hmm.
c) In terms of size, can you give a ball park figure for its weight? It looks like it could support quite a heavy load.
Weight of entire animal, not of femur.
Around 50kg give or take 20kg (it’s a sexually dimorphic species)
This would be a female, then?
I’d say it was a female.
Congratulations, Jake! That’s very cool news.
As to the bone, I can only concur with everyone else: left femur, mammalian. Something fairly tall and hefty, but not human (unless it’s a very short human). Deer? Bit of a stab in the dark, I’m afraid. One femur looks much like another to me!
Ungulates tend to have a much deeper trochlear groove at the posterior of the distal end of the femur.
http://www.crcnetbase.com/doi/pdf/10.1201/b10400-13
Haven’t had time to search it well, but good site for femurs!
I’ll certainly check it out! Don’t think it will have this one though, based on the index page.
It looks a bit like Homo erectus but you said its not human and I don’t suppose you’d have one of those in a box unlabelled so I reckon it’s an old man of the woods “right turn Clyde!”.
You’re in the right ball-park, but wrong ‘continent’