Well, this is a bit of a milestone – the 500th mystery object. Over 15 years’ worth of weekly posts, sharing some of the interesting objects that I’ve come across in my work, as a curator, or that have been shared with me by other people with a fascination with the natural world (particularly zoology).
This week I have a specimen from a new contributor to the blog, Emma Murphy, who is part of my curatorial team at the Dead Zoo (I’m still finding it hard to believe that I have a curatorial team!)
This specimen came to us from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and we think it probably dates back to the 1830’s. As such, the identification that accompanies it is extremely out of date, so this specimen is in need of reidentification:
So, do you have any idea which species this skeleton might be from? As always, you can leave your thoughts in the comments box below – I hope it proves a fun challenge!
Zygoma 
Poor beastie has lost it’s tail!
First thoughts – primate, female (she looks tired)
A bit of interweb poking supplied chacma baboon but I’m not totally convinced
I like your thinking – certainly something similar if it’s not a Chacma. Now I need to work out what it is 😉
This shade of green would definitely stand out at ‘trouping the colour’
I’m guessing you’re thinking of the olive baboon – which is a distinct possibility!
She’s a beauty! From a tribe that adds ions to their pap. To really drill down to its identity I’m guessing the scapula shape rules out P and T.
I think you’re probably on the right track – thanks for the observation on the scapula, I think you’re right.
Paolo,
Congrats on the HUGE milestone!
Your blog is a little bit of fun every week, so thank you for all the effort!
…and for the week’s mystery:
A canine like simian?
Thanks Joe, glad you enjoy the blog – if there wasn’t such a great community of people playing along, I’d have stopped a long time ago!
As for your suggestion, you could be right, but I’m wondering about Adam’s observation on the scapula… something to follow up!
Olive or yellow?Was her tail lost in a rhyming explosion? Kaboom!!!
Baboons definitely seem to be the order of the day! It’s a shame about the tail, as it would have been a useful point of reference if it was intact.
Congratulations on the milestone and keeping the FMO going through all your changes.
Might this creature be the one whose name you have nicked?
Thanks Kate (AKAM), it’s been a long time, and a lot has happened since I started.
The arms on this are a bit short for it to be my pilfered namesake though 😉
is she a “mami” vs a “papi”?
Stump-tailed Macaque?
The tail is broken, which makes it hard to see what it would have looked like, but you could be right… I suppose I’d better get researching for the answer!
I couldn’t tell if the tail was broken or there was just a bit missing from a once complete skeleton. 😊