Here’s the Friday feline for this week:
Any idea what species this skull is from?
As usual you can put your questions, comments and suggestions below and I’ll do my best to respond. Good luck!
Zygoma
Adventures in natural history collections
Here’s the Friday feline for this week:
Any idea what species this skull is from?
As usual you can put your questions, comments and suggestions below and I’ll do my best to respond. Good luck!
Zygoma 
My gut reaction is to identify it as a well loved furry purrer but surely that’s too easy! I am looking hard to find anything to suggest something more exotic, but without success.
Yep, that is indeed too easy 😉
I wonder if it’s something from a rather more arid environment than the average domestic cat, or am I mewing up the wrong tree?
Actually you’re mewing up the right tree!
Looks quite young with the unfused sutures, and looks like it has been hit by a car. Could it be Scottish?
I think it’s probably a subadult / young adult, but definitely not Scottish.
I’ve ruled out Herr P’s cat. I think it could be the cat named after a cocktail.
That’s the one I was thinking of. I’m looking in particular at the auditory bullae and meatus.
It’s not quite as insanely cute as margarita…
Well that’s thrown me. I thought I’d cracked that one. I shall have to cogitate.
Juvenile F.s.l.
Very close!
F.s.cafra?
Is it a F.m?
And I am thinking Frank Herbert as a lead 😉
It’s not a Sand Cat I’m sorry to say.
Felis n*gr*p*s?
Good option, but apparently it’s not black-footed
One thing is certain, it was very cute in life, just look at the size of those orbits!
That and the dental formula, in the absence of any locality data, makes me want to think this kitty is a M****y (L. w****i)…
Then I saw something that you said earlier which suggests you do know the locality! So let’s say it’s the cat named like a cocktail?
Can I suggest two candidates? Is that cheating? Too late, done it anyway…
Looks a lot like F. c. at first glance, but it’s not quiet right though…F. s. is getting pretty close too, but I’m not totally satisfied with some little traits…my best guess up to now would have to be F**** m********.
Bother. At first sight I was going to suggest the Lesser Left-toothed Haggis-Cat (Felis McBloodi puddingensi), but now it turns out not to be Scottish… Hmmm…
One difference between this and the previous cat is that the post-orbital bars were almost complete on the last one, much less so (much more of a gap) in this. Is this a useful spotting feature for cat skulls, or is the range of individual variation within a species w.r.t. this trait as great as the interspecific differences?
There is a fair bit of variation between individuals, but it may still be vaguely useful as a character when taken in combination with others.
Is it an Asiatic wild cat?
I don’t have a guess, just looks like a cat to me…. but cool skull.