Tag Archives for museums

Friday mystery object #81 answer

On Friday I gave you this object to identify:

I thought it would prove quite straightforward for my astute audience and I was not disappointed. As usual Jake was the first to comment and he was spot on when he said:

I think it is some sort of big bird, it’s the braincase and […] the ear

The big bird Jake suggested was an Emu, which was slightly off as was CopilasDenis‘ suggestion of Cassowary and Cromercrox‘ suggestion of Rhea (although they all correctly spotted that this piece of skull was from a ratite). But Dave Godfrey finally picked the last remaining living ratite and the correct answer when he suggested it was  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #81

This Friday I am going to give you what I consider a fairly easy one, because I stumbled across it on Thursday in a box of ‘miscellaneous bone’ and I instantly thought I knew what it was. Having checked my hunch I thought I’d give you the opportunity to have a go at working it out:

Of course, I will be here to offer some guidance if you run into any difficulties (after all, not many of you have reference material to hand) – so put your questions, comments and suggestions in the box below and I’ll do my best to answer. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #80 answer

On Friday I gave you this sectioned bit of a critter as the mystery object:

A slightly trickier one than usual, so I wasn’t surprised at the range of suggestions – ranging from a vertebra to a Narwhal tusk. Jack Ashby got in first with a tentative stab at the right answer when he said ‘sawfish maybe?‘ a suggestion supported by Carlos Grau. It is indeed part of the rostrum (beak or nose) of a  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #79

This week I’m going to give you a break from skulls, here’s an Anthropological mystery object for you to identify (as suggested by Emilia, who is one of our excellent Conservators):

Any idea what it is, where it’s from and what it’s made of?

As usual you can leave your suggestions, observations and questions in the comments section below and I’ll do my best to respond. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #76

It’s the last day of 2010, so I thought I’d see the old year out by trying something a little bit different for this week’s mystery object. Rather than giving you one object and asking for an identification, I’m giving you two and asking whether they are from two individuals of the same species or if they are from two different species. Obviously there is kudos riding on identifying the species involved as well.

So here you go – can you spot any differences between A and B and are they enough to suggest that A and B are from different species?

As usual, please add your observations, questions and suggestions below and I’ll do my best to provide what information I deem appropriate. Good luck and a very Happy New Year!

Friday mystery object #75 answer

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Yuletide! On Christmas Eve I gave you this somewhat unseasonable object to identify:

Not quite as easy as I was expecting in the end, but a couple of you spotted that this is indeed the tail of an  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #75

Between parties, travel and snow I’m amazed that I remembered to set this Christmas eve  mystery object.

I’ve tried to keep this week’s object pretty straightforward, since I may not be able to provide many clues due to shopping and food preparation duties for tomorrow. That said, do you have any idea what this is?

Please don’t hesitate to comment with questions and suggestions – if I get any opportunities to offer guidance I will. Good luck and have a very merry Yuletide!

Friday mystery object #74 answer

On Friday I gave you another bird skull to identify:

As expected, the regulars immediately waded in with correct identifications to the group, based on the scars from the salt glands on top of the head, bill shape (including the groove running from the nostril) and the size of the specimen no doubt. So congratulations go to Dave Hone, Jake, jonpaulkaiser, KateV, cromercrox, David Craven, Matt King and Curianth (everyone who commented in fact) – you were all correct in suggesting that this is the skull of an  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #74

I don’t give you birds very often (GrrlScientist has that area well covered) and I’m mostly working with mammals at the moment, but following up on last week’s Gentoo Penguin I thought I might give you another bird from the Horniman’s collections. This is one that I’ve had to identify from the infamous box 83.1 and it was picked by my trusty minion Cat and our work experience student Tilly (thanks guys!). Here it is:

As usual, you can put your questions, observations and suggestions below and I’ll do my best to answer. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #71

[N.B. I posted this early by accident and SmallCasserole got it immediately, so I feel that there should be an additional object this week to make amends for my mistake…]

This Friday I’ve decided to pull out something geological, since I have recently established links with the London Geodiversity Partnership and rocks are on my mind. Not any old rocks mind – this one has a fossil embedded in it:

Any idea what this fossil is?

Now for your bonus mystery object:

As usual you can put your suggestions, observations and questions in the comments section below and I will do my best to provide useful hints for both of them. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #70 answer

On Friday I gave you this skull to identify:

I deliberately didn’t provide a scale bar, partly because I wanted to demonstrate how important it can be to have a sense of scale when identifying a specimen and partly to make the specimen a bit more challenging to identify.

Nonetheless, most of you got a correct identification, with some very good subtle hints being used to communicate that fact. So well done to Jack Ashby, David Craven, CopilasDenis, Dave Godfrey and Manabu Sakomoto, who all hinted or explicitly stated that this was the skull of a  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #69 answer

On Friday I gave you an odd-looking skull to identify:

The fact it’s so odd-looking made it a pretty easy one to identify for most of you, with Cromercrox being the first to get the general identification, citing the very distinctive teeth as the characteristic that gave it away and Dave Godfrey getting the identification to species level.

Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #68 answer

On Friday I gave you this object to identify:

It’s one of my own specimens, found in 1997 and prepared using the simple method of suspending the body from a tree in a bucket with small holes drilled in the bottom to allow rainwater to drain. The specimen could have been bleached with a mild hydrogen peroxide solution, but the original intention was for it to provide an indication of the bone damage that may suggest insect activity, so I didn’t want to risk causing any additional chemical damage.

Everyone was on the right track with their suggestions – the hooked bill and large orbits making it clear that this was a predatory bird, with most people correctly opting for some kind of owl. However, Jake managed to get the species right in no time by using specimens from his own collection to inform his identification of  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #68

I’ve not been in our collections building for a couple of weeks now, so I am running short of specimens to use for the mystery object. However, there was one at my disposal, that I collected myself well over a decade ago – any idea what this is:

As usual, you can put your questions, comments and suggestions below and I’ll do my best to reply. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #67 answer

On Friday I gave you this object to identify:

As I suspected, you all worked out that it is the skull of a turtle, so well done all and particularly Jake, who got there first.

Turtle skulls are quite characteristic, in that they have a bill with no teeth and they have no openings apart from the obvious ones like the eye sockets and nose. Most other tetrapods have several openings in their skulls, something that is diagnostic for, and sometime provides the name for, major groups like the main ‘reptile’ group the Diapsida. This name that means two arches, which is a reference to two additional openings present in the skulls of this lineage (which includes the lizards, snakes, crocodiles and dinosaurs – including the birds). Turtles and tortoises are members of the Anapsida, which means without arches.

The characteristics of this skull are those of an Anapsid and the streamlined shape and quite large size (despite it being a youngish adult, as indicated by the unfused sutures) suggests that it is a sea-turtle. There are only 7 species of sea-turtle and the comments provide an example of features that can be used to distinguish this as a  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #67

Here’s a specimen without any identification from the Horniman’s collections. I thought I knew what it was straight-away, but then had to spend ages trying to confirm the identification. I just hope you all come to the same conclusion as I did!

As usual, put your questions, observations and suggestions in the comments section below and I’ll do my best to reply during the day. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #66 answer

On Friday I gave you this mystery object:

I thought it would be too easy, but I hadn’t factored in that it is the skull of a juvenile, which makes it much harder to identify from just a photograph. I did drop a few hints about what it might be on Twitter when I said it was ‘easy as pie’ and I had a hard time restraining myself from making a give-away comment about it flying when Jake asked if it was a big bat.

Manabu Sakamoto spotted that it was a juvenile and that the canine-like teeth were quite distinctive of a particular group. Neil managed to convey that he knew the answer with a beautifully subtle comment:

After rooting around a bit I think that I have sussed out the answer.

The answer being  Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #66

This Friday I have a lot on, so I’m giving you an easy one that the biology and bony types should be able to drop hints about for the less osteocentric amongst you:

I’m sure you’ll all get this in no time, but in case you don’t I’ll do my best to respond to any questions, observations or suggestions in the comments section below. Have fun!

Friday mystery object #65 answer

On Friday I gave you this bit of geology to identify:

I used this because I had it to hand on Thursday afternoon after doing a behind the scenes tour of the Horniman’s store for some of the attendees of TAM London. I also used it so I would have the chance to tell the story behind this innocuous looking, if pretty, bit of stone.

Before I get started on the story I must congratulate Steven D. Garber, PhD on spotting that one of the main components of this is serpentine (the other being calcite) and I have to hand a big dose of kudos to Dave Godfrey who got the answer spot-on when he suggested that this was a sample of  Continue reading →