This week I have a weird mystery object for you to have a go at identifying:
This is a specimen that I came across from a small selection of enquiries I inherited.
I’m still not 100% certain what it is, although I have my suspicions. I’d be keen to know what you think!
You can leave your suggestions in the comments section below – I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Zygoma 
What kind of skullduggery is this? Did this creature end up in ‘osipital?
…or ‘paritially’ in ‘os-pital? Must get my thinking cap more firmly fitted on before horsing around with this more!
I would not be inclined to horse around with this one. Something at the back of my head suggests there is a porpose for this roundly curved bone.
It bears further thought, certainly.
must be smarter than your average bear, as it doesn’t resemble mine…. i’m confused as to which way is up on it…. each pic looks like a better orientation. ??
OK. The third photo looks to be the frontal view with the nasal bones. Very short. Thought marine mammal because of the oil content of the bone. It’s so porous. And the bones are fused which shows age. So not a young one. Yogi has relatively long nasals compared to this.
Its late in the week, so I’ll abandon attempts at being cryptic. I’m pretty sure this is from the back of the skull of a young cetacean, maybe a porpoise or a dolphin. I don’t think it is fused (big sutures are visible, and the skull itself has come apart). Regarding orientation, the first photo would be occipital view and the third dorsal view. I interpret the bones present as the supraoccipital and the parietal, with crescentic suture scars visible in dorsal view for the overlapping of the telescoped frontal.