This week I have a genuine mystery object for you from the collections of the Dead Zoo:
Any idea what this bone found in an Irish peat bog might be from?
Friday mystery object #471
Zygoma
Adventures in natural history collections
This week I have a genuine mystery object for you from the collections of the Dead Zoo:
Any idea what this bone found in an Irish peat bog might be from?
Zygoma 
Hi Paolo, you forgot to cover the label, now everyone already knows it’s a bird humerus. Judging from shape and size I think it’s an eagle, a golden or a white-tailed sea eagle. However, I’m away for the weekend so I have no acces to my collection to compare humeri of both species
I was going to ask if he was being humorous, or if it was a twisted Friday the 13th spoof.
I knew, but:
1. I think most people who regularly read the blog would be able to id a bird humerus
2. Labels can be wrong and should never be taken as accurate until they’ve been checked 😉
(!) Regarding number 1… well, I wouldn’t have!
I thought it was from some mammal even though it has the wearing to show some of the decreased density.
Since I have an osprey humerus in front of me, we can rule it out as the unknown.
Pretty sturdy for anything but eagle-sized bird, I think. But there were many large birds around in that era. If the era is correct in the label. Trust no one, trust nothing?
Never trust a label!
So. Not a bird. Who has such curvaceous humeri?
Oh, I didn’t say it wasn’t a bird, just that you shouldn’t trust a label 😉
I know you didn’t say it wasn’t a bird. In the note about the label you didn’t say it was a bird, either. You said we’d all know a bird humerus if we saw one. Well, I’m looking again, that’s all.
I am still thinking a mammal – same sturdy size as a gray wolf, but not a pronounced supratrochlear hole. If you are still sticking with birds then, I am voting for a White-tailed eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla, since one end is really worn and could have possibly had the larger protuberance that should be there.