This week I have a specimen for you to identify that often crops up as an enquiry for museum folks:
I suspect that some of you will recognise this, so let’s hear your best cryptic clues as to the identity!
Friday mystery object #505
Zygoma
Adventures in natural history collections
Zygoma 
I’m harbouring some ideas on what this might be. If we look at on the swollen braincase, narrow interorbital region then an ID comes in focus. Then that odd basicranial foramen seals it for me.
Sorry, that comment really needs editing. It should have read:
I’m harbouring some ideas on what this might be. If we look at the swollen braincase and narrow interorbital region, an ID comes in focus. Then that odd basicranial foramen seals it for me.
Losing my focus staring at this but conc(ol)ur with Adam Yates’s brainy conclusion.
aha! You called it a basicranial foramen!
aha! You called it a basicranial foramen!
they call him flipper!
They call him flipper…. (at least a cousin)
investigating more…. i’ll retract by suggestion…. but yes aquatic
Yes, Adam – You have my seal of approval for your ID. Although I might harp on a few details of the skull.
Indeed you may be right, species ID is a little tricky here. Any hints at what leads you to prefer the ice-lover ?
Initially I thought the interorbital width was to wide to be harbor, and the lamboid crest on the occipital was more pronounced that I’ve seen on harbor… BUT harp seals do not have the small hole on the ventral view (I don’t know what that is called!) Eastern harbors have this hole too, but it is more triangular. Baikal seals have it – but the hole is oval. So I am back with your initial ID!
Side quest! – What is written on the side of the skull?
It looks like “Yellow Slrank 20/9/92” ???? I’m guessing a location and date, but Slrank? WTF is that?
Got it! Yellow Strand. It is a beach in Ireland. Makes sense if it was handed in to the Dublin Museum. I think that more or less rules out the ice-loving angel’s instrument.
However the initial impressions I was harbouring might not be right either. There is a gripping salty pig in Ireland as well, and I think this is a young one of those.
Regarding that ventral hole in the occipital bone, I can pictures of it large, very small or absent in the one species, so it looks like it varies quite a bit, perhaps with growth?
Oh… well then, these are grey thoughts to gripe about. I am going to move my initial thoughts I was harboring to this new species an an ID!