Recently the Dead Zoo made a new acquisition of an old anatomical collection. This is one of the more unusual specimens included in it:
Any idea what this might be? As ever, you can leave your thoughts and comments below – I’ll be interested to hear your suggestions.
Zygoma 
Is it only me that is reminded of a couple of unpleasant characters in the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp?
It looks like the sort of thing that would have been exhibited at the (now closed) Museum of Curiosity in Arundel. That place was full of 6-legged calfs and 2-headed kittens, mostly done as taxidermy and dressed for edwardian garden parties. Some of the specimens, though, were in skelital form and I found them the most interesting. I am assuming it’s genuine and not a construct,
poor little thing, and Chris nailed it with his comment, lol
I agree with Chris as well, Si and Am
Not a two-headed specimen, but a two-bodied
Did it leave the womb alive?
Looks a little underdeveloped to have reached that point I think.
easy to find a dance partner, eh?
fetal features not withstanding, obviously forward facing eyes, large canines, well developed claws, i was tending ursine, but the tail is too long… domestic 2nd man’s best friend?
Tarsier and young?
The scapula(s) is a good key here. Also – It doesn’t have a long thin interparietal. It’s hard to say if it’s coming or going, but I am hoping I am not barking up the wrong tree. I’d say my curiosity will not kill me though it might have done this one in.
I looked quickly at a couple of photos on the WWWeb: it looked as if (domestic) cats have one more lumber vertebra than domestic dogs. (7 versus 6. Since the total number of presacral vertebrae is highly conserved across many placental groups, I assume cats also have one fewer pairs of ribs.) Which I suspected, from the general appearance and motion of living individuals.
Is this actually a regularity that can be trusted?
Painful thought it is to look at this specimen, it seems to be more catlike than doglike in its lumbars…
(On the other hand, there seems to be slight upturning of the snout, suggestive of a more doglike than catlike skull shape.)
Dogs and cats both “usually” have 7 lumbar vertebrae. Unfortunately there was an extensive anatomy lesson on the web that used a dog skeleton with an abnormality of 6 lumbar.
“Normal dog have usually 7 lumbar vertebrae and 3 sacral vertebrae. Unfortunately, the dog used for this anatomical module presented a vertebral transitional anomaly with only 6 free lumbar vertebrae. For educational purpose we decided to numerate lumbar vertebrae until 7 but if you have any question, don’t hesitate to contact us on Imaios Support.”
Oops. Thanks Katedmonson. Cats “look” as if they have longer and more flexible bodies, so I was uncritical in basing my counts on the first skeletal pictures that came up.
Conjoined sloth twins