This week I have a mystery specimen from Dr David Hone who showed me it when he came and spoke about Tyrannosaurus at PubSci the other night (if you want to see the talk take a look at the Periscope feed from the evening). Here it is:
Do you have any ideas of what bone it is and from which family of animals? If you can work out the species I will be both surprised and very impressed.
As usual if you think it’s too easy, please be sure to leave a cryptic clue in the comments section below. I hope you have fun with this!
Zygoma 
Hmmm. There’s something fishy about this skull portion; it’s making me want to howl with frustration…
Is it fair to say that this fish ain’t no dog?
I think that there’s something a bit fishy about this bone. However, I can’t tel osteological features that’d help me identify it more closely.
For the record both Tone and Chris went for the exact same thing that I first did and that Paolo first did. So good guess, and you’re in good company, but it’s also not right.
This appears to be before the jaw of a pig like piscine from a federal republic located in North America…
Very good shout!
My feeling, though, is that you have the right sub-order, but it may be a different family.
I am going out on a limb here and recommending the sub-order pointed at by Richard Lawrence. I don’t think he has the correct species but he may just have the correct family, although my preference is for the one associated with prolific radiation in Africa’s great Rift Valley lakes.
And Am I the only one crude or immature enough to notice it, but doesn’t that front tooth, the largest one, look rather…
Suggestive?
With teeth like that I’m not sure I’d like to wrassel with him.
But i bet when he does wrassel he’s in the red corner with a band.
I think you have nailed it. Does its specific name mean naked birth?
You may have nearly pulled the wool over my eyes with this one, but recent comments have given me an idea and I hope it’s not a baa-d one. Might you find it near a hotel that hasn’t had wine since 1969?
From your clue I am sure this must be from a Dark Desert Highway Sheep. Am I right?
This is eating up more of my day than is safe…a hint is required. Paired or unpaired?
This is two views of the same bone, but it is a bone that would be paired.
So. If I’m translating the ideas correctly we’ve got either a sheep/wildboar/fish (Dr.’s Hone and Viscardi said no to fish). But! The bone looks like maybe palatine dentition or jugal dentition (not sure about this one)…which are found in some squamates. But! This would be one big squamate. That’s all I’ve got. Looking up ‘odd’ teeth doesn’t work either… I haven’t fed the kids in two days so I should get back to that…good luck folks.
No – it IS from a fish, but not a Wolf Fish 😉
is it a fish much longer than wide?