This week I’m going to put you to the test with this mystery object from the Dead Zoo:
I’m not going to lie, this is probably going to be a challenge, but somehow I suspect that someone will manage to spot what it is.
As always, you can leave your thoughts, questions and suggestions in the comments box below, and I’ll try to offer some useful hints if it’s proving too difficult. Best of luck with it!
Zygoma 
I’m thinking some type of large rodent but I can’t convince myself on any particular species. Back to my studies.
I’ll give you a clue – it’s not a rodent, it’s in a similar size range to some of the bigger ones.
This is a tricky one! I have an idea: If I fawned over your blog, might you favour me with a clue?
This animal is a bit of an oddity – there might be something fishy going on…
Are the spots real, or did the specimen get splattered with paint or bleach at some point in its history?
The spots are indeed real. The whole specimen is probably a bit faded, but this specimen had spots when it was alive.
Might the common English name have eight letters and start with a C, and its Latin name start on H.h.?
Not this chappie!
Retractable claws?
Nope!
rodents and cervids were my first two thoughts…. but now what else could it be?
It kind of looks like it has a low slung body resting on its base which made me first think of some kind of mustelid but the spots threw me, so I decided in might be mounted lying in a resting pose and went down the cervid path, but that appears to be wrong as well!?
I find my first thoughts often tend to be better than expected.
Adam Yates thought of “some kind of mustelid.”
there are critters that, in general body plan, resemble mustelids but aren’t, and some species have spots: I think light ones on a darker background like this. So… but I can’t think of anything “fishy” about q….s.
Adam Yates thought of “some kind of mustelid.”
there are critters that, in general body plan, resemble mustelids but aren’t, and some species have spots: I think light ones on a darker background like this. So… but I can’t think of anything “fishy” about q….s.
Locally called a “chuditch” perhaps?
This is a Northern hemisphere critter.
Pleasantly– Yup. (Though I wasn’t familiar with that name, which is apparently for one species of the genus.)
Bad news: checking Wikipedia for pictures, it looks as if at least some species of this group have larger white spots than the one in the picture… So I’m not at all sure.
Yeah, I don’t know any quolls with such fine spotting, and Paolo confirms it is not Australian. I’m now wondering if it is an aberrant individual of a normally spotless species.
Oh! Now we’re talking! 😉
Ok, with that bit of information, and your other clues (esp. what I think is a clever double meaning of something fishy going on), I’ll have a go at an ID and flag that this is not a cat.
Correct! This is not a cat.
Many quolls have white spots (big ones, and anyway this is a norther hemisphere critter). I went on a … fishing expedition? … on the internet, looking for possible Viverrids, Felids,and Mustelids: a lot of them have BLACK spots, but I didn’t find any with small whit ones. (The shoulder blades look like a cat’s, but are hardly distinctive: crouching V,M, etc would look the same in that department.)
Paolo more or less confirmed that the spots are not a normal feature of this species. So based on his ‘fishy’ clue and rough size and shape, I’m guessing its a mustelid that has a kind of flag in its species name.
Would you be nippy at me if I suggested that I Oughter be more speciesfic?
I mean, sheesh… it did say “it has only been spotted in 1964″…