This Friday I have a mystery object that may be a bit of a challenge. Any idea what this is, or more to the point, what it’s from?
As usual you can put your questions, comments and suggestions below and I’ll do my best to get back to you. Good luck!
Zygoma
Adventures in natural history collections
It’s not from anything I’d recognise off the top of my head, so I need to look outside northern Europe. Quite a challenge, since limb bones are much less likely to be illustrated online than skulls. It’s a humerus though, and looking at the scale, approx. 28cm long but rather slender. Initial impression is an ungulate. The proximal part looks quite horsey, so wouldn’t be an antelope or anything like that. I might look for tapir, okapi or giraffe, but I suspect the humerus is too slender for those species. Maybe a camelid?
Very good reasoning!
It’s very quiet today !
Its a humerus off an adult off something big. It is bigger than a red deer and thinner with an extra lump like a horse.
Great observations – any thoughts on what it might be from?
Right humerus of adult artiodactyl, my guess would be. The crest on the proximal epiphysis is very low, is it llama on any chance?
I agree with it being from an adult artiodactyl. Llama is an intriguing guess. The bone appears to have quite a lot of grease in it.
Grease content can be pretty variable – very dependent on the type of preparation method used. Some species do tend to have more greasy bones though, whales in particular.
Good call on the proximal epiphysis!