Last week I gave you this mystery skull to try your hand at identifying:

It wasn’t quite as easy as it might at first seem, and it led to a great discussion in the comments section.

Several people were initially taken in by the shape, perhaps without considering the scale, as this looks very similar to our old friend the Tasmanian Devil:

However, the mystery specimen is almost half the size of Tasmanian Devil. The similarities do offer a good clue of where to look for alternative identifications though. The Dasyuridae is a family of Marsupial carnivores that includes the Tasmanian Devil, a variety of small mouse-or-shrew-like forms (which a smaller with more pointy snouts that this), plus the members of the Genus Dasyurus – the Quolls.

The comments moved on to the Quolls quite quickly, with some discussion around whether this was the Spotted-tailed (or Tiger) Quoll or if it could be the Western Quoll. In the end, Kat Edmonson noticed a feature of the nasals to help distinguish which it was, and Adam Yates noticed a useful feature of the angular process of the lower jaw:

In the mystery specimen those processes that project inward on the mandible are “pronglike” but the Spotted-tailed Quoll they are more triangular.

So well done to everyone who worked out that this is the skull of a Western Quoll, Dasyurus geoffroii Gould, 1841. I hope you enjoyed the challenge!

Just to note, I’m currently at the Ulster Museum for the NatSCA conference – my annual opportunity to connect with other natural science collections and one of the highlights of my year! While I’m here I may see if there are any interesting obects I can find to use for future mystery objects – let’s see what I can find!