It’s Friday again, but this Friday is a bit different to most since it’s Christmas Day, so a hearty Merry Christmas to you all!
Just because it’s Christmas I see no reason to miss a mystery object, although this one is a bit more festive than usual:
Can you tell what’s under the wrapping paper?
As usual, pop your answers and any questions below in the comments section and I will endeavour to provide clues if they’re needed.
Merry Christmas!
On Friday I presented you with a mystery object that I recently had to identify myself:
Skull length approx 30cm
The upward facing alveolus (tooth socket) for the upper canines is a dead give-away that this a Continue reading
It’s a snowy Friday here in London, the Horniman is looking otherworldly – in fact, here’s what it looks like from my office window:
The view from my office
But this brings us no closer to a mystery object. I was thinking of giving you an animal track in the snow, but that would be very limiting, since I only have photos of cat, fox and squirrel – all of which are a bit too easy. Instead I present you with something utterly unfestive, but more of a challenge:
Skull length approx. 30cm (12")
Skull length approx. 30cm (12")
I had to identify this a couple of weeks ago, so it is genuinely a mystery object, although I’m pretty sure I’ve worked out what it is – now it’s your turn!
Answers below in the comments section – I will offer feedback and answer questions where possible. Good luck!
On Friday I showed you this beauty:
I posed three questions about this huge snail to tax your minds: what is it, what does it eat and do you think it can fit into its shell? As usual, SmallCasserole and Jim were the first ones there – although not without some clues. This is a Continue reading
This Friday I’ve decided to give you something alive and without any bones, for a change:
So two three questions this week, what is this massive mollusc, what does it eat and do you think it can fit all that body into its shell?
Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below – and for those of you with a good knowledge of marine invertebrates I may have to white-out your answers if you get them correct too quickly.
Best of luck!
On Friday I gave you two pictures of a specimen from the Horniman Museum and asked you what it was:
Some good answers popped up but three of you managed to identify it as a Continue reading
Friday again, so it’s time for another mystery object. Any idea what this is?
As usual, feel free to ask questions in the comments section below – I will do my best to answer. Good luck!
On Friday I presented you with this delightful looking creature’s skull:
Total length 2.5cm
and asked you what it was. SmallCasserole and Jim vied to reach the correct answer, with the physicist narrowly beating the biologist to the solution using brute force of reasoning (rather than attempting a comparative approach). However, Jim did step up and suggest a more specific answer – which despite some research over the weekend I am still not able to confirm. I need access to some more comparative material.
We know it is a Continue reading
Last week’s mystery object turned out to be very easy for most of you, so this week I have decided to give you something a bit more taxing:
Total length 2.5cm
What do you think this freaky looking skull belongs to? As usual, suggestions and any questions below in the comments section – I will try to provide useful responses.
Good luck!
Happy Monday one and all! Last Friday was a busy day for me as it was the day of the prize-giving event for the winners of the photographic competition that was part of the series of Darwin bicentenary events I have been heading up at the Horniman. I expect I will blog about that in the very near future, but for now I will drop links to the BBC news and Guardian websites which are hosting slideshows of the winning and commended entries. As a result of all my busyness I had little time to field questions, but thankfully I didn’t really need to, since most people worked it out without much trouble.
This little fella is indeed a Continue reading
It’s Friday and that means it’s time for my 18th mystery object. This week I have picked a skull (I can hear the groans already), but it’s a cute one and when I asked Melissa (who is not a biologist) what it is she got it in three guesses. I asked her how she worked it out and her reply was “I thought about it and it worked”, which speaks volumes about the principles behind identification methods.
So, I invite you to think about this and see if you too can make it work:
So, what is it? Answers in the comments section below – I’ll also do my best to respond to any questions, but tomorrow is a busy day for me, so I might not get much opportunity. Remember – think about it and it might just work.
P.S. if you get it early on I might turn your answer white to give others a chance of working it out for themselves.
On Friday I gave you this mystery object:
and after a long bout of Q&A Fia managed to get the correct answer – it is indeed a Continue reading
I can’t believe it’s Friday again – it’s all a bit hectic at the moment, so apologies for the late posting of this week’s mystery object.
Here’s a rather odd object from the Horniman’s collections – any idea what it might be?
As usual, post your answers below and if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them!
I’ll keep it simple today and leave you free to ask questions about this week’s mystery object. Quite simply, can you work out what this is:
Comments and questions below – I will provide answers as I am able.
Good luck!
On Friday I gave you a palaeontological mystery object and asked you to choose what you thought it was from a poll:
As it turns out, you did pretty well, with 60% of you selecting the correct category (with a couple of you making comments which went into greater detail). The object in indeed a piece of fossil Continue reading
On Friday I gave you a bit of a change from museum specimens and presented you with this:
Everyone managed to get the identification to at least within the Order level (it’s in the Orthoptera), which is good going when dealing with insects. The hard bit came down to whether it was a cricket or grasshopper. Now, the photo does not show the most important feature for distinguish between these two types of orthopteran: it’s the antennae length that gives it away (grasshoppers have short antennae, crickets have long antennae). Colour is not really important (sorry KateKatV).
That said, the vivid green colour, speckled appearance, lack of wings and characteristics shape of the ovipositor (curved bit at the back which means this is a female) are a give-away for those who are familiar with this particular beastie (and for those who use Google image to help with their identifications). It is in fact a Continue reading
Last week I let Harrison pick an object that proved a bit too difficult (although perhaps I could have been more generous with the clues I gave…). This week I am giving you something that is actually alive and commonly found in gardens in the UK – so it should be a doddle to identify:
Simple questions – what species is it (binomial name gets you kudos) and what sex is it?
Answers in the comments section below – but I’m afraid I won’t be able to respond to comments this week. Good luck!
Crumbs, it appears that last Friday’s object stumped everyone! Harrison certainly chose a difficult one…
SmallCasserole came closest, asking:
Is it antler or horn?
but my response:
Antler or horn that thick?
was perhaps too ambiguous – because there is a horn out there that is this thick, that of a Continue reading
Today’s mystery object has been selected by a very helpful work experience volunteer who was assisting me in the collections yesterday, so my thanks to Harrison! He is rather more cruel than me, so there’s no multiple choice on this – we just want you to see if you can work out what it is. I will attempt to answer any questions (time permitting) since our broadband seems to have been sorted out at home.
So here it is:
Still no internet, so this is drafted on my phone. Well done to those of you who worked out that Friday’s object was indeed a rattle-snake’s tail.
I will expand on this answer, once I can use a computer to type comfortably!
Right, internet is finally working again, so here’s a (slightly) fuller answer to what this is:
As was mentioned before, this is indeed a rattlesnake’s tail. Rattlesnakes have a bad reputation for being aggressive and dangerous, but it should be remembered that they have a rattle in their tail to warn off predators and large unwary animals that might trample them – so at least they give fair warning.
There are quite a few species of snakes that make use of a rattle on their tail and this one comes (apparently) from Crotalus durissus, a South American pitviper that is quite dangerous due to their powerful neurotoxic venom (unlike the cytotoxic venom of the North American diamondback rattlesnake).
The rattle is formed when the snake sheds its skin – a section of the old skin Continue reading
Zygoma 