Tag Archives for mystery object

Friday mystery object #546

This week I have a guest mystery object for you, courtesy of regular mystery-solver Joe Vans:

Image by Joe Van Sambeek, 2026
Image by Joe Van Sambeek, 2026
Image by Joe Van Sambeek, 2026
Image by Joe Van Sambeek, 2026

Joe sent it to me as a bit of a challenge, and it was great fun to have a chance to figure it out – it reminded me of why I started this blog in the first place!

Joe was kinder to me than I usually am to you, as he provided a locality to help with identification, so it would be churlish of me to not do the same for you. Joe said:

mid-peninsula Baja California, gulf side.

I hope you have as much fun working this out as I did, and this week you won’t be competing with Joe to get the identification, and who knows, he may even feel like dropping some clues if nobody is getting close (although with the skills of some of you, I suspect that won’t be an issue). Enjoy!

Friday mystery object #545 answer(ish)

Last week, I gave you an object from the Dead Zoo that presents a genuine mystery:

This premaxilla and fragment of maxilla came to light from beneath one of the cases, which was being dismantled to allow furniture conservation work to take place to support the redevelopment of the building.

The narrow tip of the premaxilla and small size immediately put me in mind of a small browsing antelope species that might daintily pick a new growth leaves from thorny scrub.

That shape is quite distinctive – allowing multiple species to be discounted, but I’ve been struggling to find anything that quite matches this piece of skull.

Joe Vans made a similar comment, referencing the small size and Duiker-like proportions, but different details of this object.

Frustratingly, many of the resources that used to be available online that offered well identified antelope skulls for reference and keys for identification seem to no longer exist (e.g. the Mammals of Tanzania and Animal Diversity Web), and the various AI search algorithms that seem to be all that is now available seem to have deteriorated in quality to the point that they can no longer find niche websites with sufficiently detailed scientific content, preferring instead to route searches to Etsy, Pinterest and Amazon.

So it looks like I’ll need to track an identification for this specimen down by using more time-intensive old school methods, like checking comparative specimens (something I sadly don’t have much opportunity to do these days as my role has become more managerial and my opportunities to work in the collections are almost non-existent).

Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still great resources out there – John Rochester’s Flickr is a constant source of great quality images for reference, and I was delighted to discover a new one the other day, in the form of the Skull Index, so maybe there is still hope for online osteology, but none of these cover small African antelope species just yet.

Grumbles aside, I’ve managed to rule out Suni, Oribi, and most species of Duiker and Dik-dik. There are some Grysbok that need further consideration and Steenbok isn’t off the table, so at least I may have been able to narrow down the search. Of course, the best way to refine it more is to hear what from other people who may recognise something, so if you have an idea of what this might be from, then please do leave a comment below!

Friday mystery object #544 answer(ish)

Last week I gave you this little critter to have a go at identifying:

It was a genuien mystery object, as I found it scuttling around on my arm as if searching for prey of some kind.

My inital thought was a ladybird larvae, but it was far smaller and lacking in the colour patches that are present in the larvae of any species I’m familiar with.

However, as I noted in my comment last week, insects have different appearances at different stages of their lifecycle, and I have to admit that I forgot that the early instar larvae of some ladybird species don’t necessarily have the colour patches the the later instars present.

Fortunately, everyone was quick to support the ladybird larve identification, with a reminder about the different larval instars – so thanks for that!

Joe Vans made a specific suggestion of a 10-spot Ladybird Adalia decempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) larva, which seems plausible. After a lot a searching, I’ve not managed to find anything to confirm or contradict that. The early instar Harlequin Ladybird larvae can lack colour patches, but they seem a bit broader (although maybe the mystery example just needed feeding up a bit?)

I suspect that this is one of those mysteries that can’t be answered without rearing the larvae until it’s grown enough to start disp[aying some more characteristic features, which isn’t possible as I returned it to the great outdoors. So that’s a lesson learned!

Thanks to all of you for your input on this – it’s great to be reminded that sometimes there isn’t always a specific answer available, and keeping an identification broad is just fine. Moreover, keeping it general means you’re less likely to confirm something incorrectly – and I think that’s probably for the best!

Friday mystery object #544

This week I have a genuine mystery object for you to have a go at identifying:

I found this little critter hitchhiking on my arm, so I thought I’d see if anyone could help me work out what it is.

Insects aren’t my strongest area of knowledge, as there are just soooo many species, and they even have different appearances at different stages of their lifecycle, so your help would be appreciated!

Any ideas about who my little friend could be?

Friday mystery object #542 answer

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

It’s not the easiest of tasks, as there are quite a lot of birds in this general size range and with this general shape of skull, so the overall outline from the top only helps narrow things down a little. It is worth noting that general proportions all suggest some kind of Passeriform.

The exact length of this specimen is 49mm, but as with all species, there is a bit of variation depending on subspecies, age, sex, quality of diet and other environmental factors. I suspect this one is a little on the small side for the species.

The side view offers another perspective on the bill morphology, which is looks quite generalist, perhaps a little on the gracile side, but not overly skinny. Given the size that puts me (and many who left a comment) in mind of something in the Thrush family.

It’s also worth noting that the bill sheath, while not very apparent, is still present (if it wasn’t you’d see small holes along the side of the bill, which are the blood vessels that supply the tissues that secrete the keratin of the bill sheath). This is a big clue, as the bill sheath is yellow.

For me that immediately put in my mind a very specific type of Thrush – the male Common Blackbird Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758.

This can be checked with reference to the excellent Skullsite resource, which provides a fantastic range of bird skulls with images from several different angles. Take a look at the underside of this specimen:

The posterior region of the palatine bones have quite a distinctive shape – flared and with a broad shallow notch at the posteriormost margin. If you compare this to other skulls in the genus Turdus, you’ll notice that the notch is almost absent in the Redwing, it has a much sharper outer angle in the Songthrush, it’s a lot deeper in the American Robin, it’s deeper and sharper in the Fieldfare, and so on. The important thing is that the palatine of the Blackbird on the Skullsite is still consistent with that of the mystery object.

While this feature takes a while to get familiar with, it can be quite helpful when narrowing down similar skulls like these. I hope that pointer proves useful!

Finally, I offer up congratulations to Adam Yates who not only got the correct identification, he also left a great cryptic clue to share that information. Bravo!

Friday mystery object #539 answer

Last week I gave you this sad scene with a mystery victim to try to identify:

I thought it might be an interesting one, because when I first saw it my mind took me around the houses thinking about what it was.

My first thought was actually that it had some features I associated with a European Stonechat:

Male European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola image by Ron Knight, March 2013 CC-BY-2.0

But on closer inspection I realised that the bill was surrounded by red feathers rather than black, and the “black” feathers were probably not originally black, and were as a result of staining from the products of decomposition.

A similar sized chat that’s more commonly encountered in the area fits the “bill” more closely – or more to the point the feathers around the bill fit its plumage more closely. The European Robin Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758).

Male European Robin Erithacus rubecula with a mealworm. Image by Philip Heron, July 2008 CC-BY-SA 3.0

So well done to Hilary, Chris and Joe who all saw through the feather discolouration and recognised the bold and beautiful bird that this sorry specimen started out as. Now all remains is to do the CSI work to figure out if this gruesome death was the result of a cat, a car or a window – three of the most common terminators of urban birds…

Friday mystery object #538 answer

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:

Skull of 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!

Friday mystery object #538

Before I share this week’s Friday mystery object, I’d like to just take a moment to mark the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough.

I think it’s fair to say that he is a national hero in the UK and the source of inspiration for generations of naturalists, thanks to his documentaries. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet the legend himself a couple of times, and he was even generous enough to lend his Elephant Bird egg to an exhibition I was involved in at the Horniman Museum over 10 years ago.

So here’s wishing a very happy century celebration to Sir David!

With that said, here is a nice skull for you to have a go at identifying – I’d love to hear your thoughts on what it might be:

Let me know what you think in the comments below, and I hope you have fun working it out!

Friday mystery object #535 answer

Last week I gave you this rather beautiful mystery object to have a go at identifying:

This is a pretty distinctive species, but not without some very similar relatives who can complicate things.

The speckled crimson pattern on the forewings of this species provide all the clue you really need for the identification – it’s a Speckled-crimson Moth (or Crimson-speckled Flunkey, or Crimson-speckled Footman) Utetheisa pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758). I even dropped a hint when I described it as a “rather beautiful beastie” as the Latin species name pulchella translates to “beautiful”.

This species occurs across Africa, Asia, and Europe, with occasional migratory visitors turning up in the UK and Ireland – in this case in Tramoe, Co. Waterford.

However, there is a very similar looking species in the same Genus that goes by the name Utetheisa pulchelloides – which literally means “resembling Utetheisa pulchella“. The common name for that species is the Heliotrope Moth, which mainly occurs in the Southern Hemisphere – mainly New Zealand, Australia and up into Borneo and Singapore.

Here’s a comparison between specimens of these two species from other collections:

Utetheisa pulchelloides, dorsal view. Image by Caroline Harding, MAF (CC BY 3.0 au)
Utetheisa pulchella specimen from Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria, Image by Kurt Kulac 2006-05-20 (CC-BY-SA-2.5)

You can see how similar they are – and if you look at the underwing the U. pulchelloides specimen looks more similar to the mystery specimen – which I suspect may have led Adam Yates down the wrong path.

If you look at the forewing you might notice that U. pulchelloides has small black triangles along the margins, whereas U. pulchella (and the mystery specimen) has truncated triangles or rectangles. You may also notice that the crimson speckles of U. pulchelloides are more faded and have a dark margin.

So well done to Chris Jarvis, Katenockles, and Jonathan T who all spotted the subtle differences either in the comments or on Mastodon.

Friday mystery object #534 answer

Last week I gave you this genuine mystery object from the forests of Borneo to get your thoughts on:

This was sent to me by Dave Hone (who runs Archosaur Musings), but it was found and photographed by his colleagues Lauryn and Tom of Queen Mary University of London, who are doing research in Borneo.

I had an idea of what it might be, and I’m pleased to say that everyone who responded – both here and on social media – came to the same conclusion as me.

This is the left ilium crest from the pelvis of a juvenile animal. That much can be seen from the unfused sections where this would have connected to the sacral vertebrae and the pubic bone:

Photo of unfused surface of the ilium that would have connected to the pubic bone by Tom Fayle, 2026

An unusual thing about this ilium is the position of the point of fusion with the sacrum:

For most species the iliac crest (that’s the curved bit at the top) extends upward quite a bit before flaring out – and that flaring is often quite squared off and tends to be narrow and more blade-like. That configuration is what you would expect to see from most quadrupedal mammals – a notable exception is in the form of the human pelvis, due to our bipedalism.

However, this pelvis doesn’t quite conform to the human shape, as it’s a little bit less curved and a little more blade-like. This is consistent with one of our close cousins – there are some useful comparisons of disarticulated primate pelvises on the Bone Clones website and while this is very similar to a female Chimpanzee that’s shown, the location of Borneo suggests a more likely option – a Bornean Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus (Linnaeus, 1760).

On BlueSky, osteoarchaeologist Terry O’Connor spotted this straight away, as did Adam Yates and Chris Jarvis here in the comments. 10 year old Viren, who is a new visitor to Zygoma, was also spot-on. So well done to everyone, and thanks for your thoughts – it’s great to have my conclusion supported!

Friday mystery object #534

This week I have a genuine mystery for you to help solve, courtesy of Lauryn and Tom – researchers working in the forest in Borneo, and passed on by Dave Hone (an old friend and fellow blogger who runs Archosaur Musings):

Photo by Tom Fayle, 2026
Photo by Tom Fayle, 2026
Photo by Tom Fayle, 2026

I think I know what this is and what it’s from, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this Bornean bone in the comments below!

Friday mystery object #533 answer

Last week I gave you this bird pelvis to have a go at identifying, as part of a series of posts on that particular feature across birds utilising different environments:

It probably wasn’t the easiest challenge, since this pelvis is damaged. It’s missing part of its dorsal surface and with some small amount of damage to the posterior margin of the right ischium (that’s the broad bit that flares out on the bottom left of the image) and with both of the pubic bones snapped (those are the long skinny bits that stick out to either side).

Still, the overall shape still gives some useful clues. The long, narrow, triangular form offers some ideas about the distribution of mass and use of the legs, to give a sense of possible locomotion habits.

The pelvis is very flat and the points of articulation with the femur are quite far forward:

At least in comparison with something like a Chicken:

This suggests something that has a centre of mass that’s quite far forward compared the foot position. This immediately raises the question of why? The obvious answer for me is that this is a species that doesn’t brisky strut around, relying on more of a low-speed waddle to get around – or perhaps a paddle.

Waterbirds have legs located quite far back in the body to aid propulsion in the water. Perhaps a bit confusingly this requires the articulation of the femur with the pelvis to be pushed further forward due to the more horizontal orientation of the spine to allow the correct orientation of the legs to push water backwards and the body forwards – unlike terresrial species that are more interested in pushing the body upwards against gravity.

There are of course a lot of waterbirds, from the Pelecanimorphae mentioned in the comments by Adam Yates, to the Anseriformes. That’s what we’re looking at here.

There are a lot of ducks and geese, so narrowing it down isn’t easy. The size of this mystery specimen is in the right range for a large duck or small goose, but if you look at the left ischium (the undamaged one) you’ll notice a deep notch – this is something seen in geese.

You may also notice an additional extra notch – which I think offers a great clue to hint at the species. This is the pelvis of a Brent Goose Branta bernicla Linnaeus, 1758.

I’m not sure if the thoughts I’ve laid out here, and over the last couple of mystery objects are helpful for guiding future identifications of bird pelvises, but I hope they may be of use. Let me know your tips on working these things out – more ideas are always welcome!

Friday mystery object #532 answer

Last week I gave you the second of a series of bird pelvises to try your hand at identifying:

This one proved a bit more difficult than the previous example I offered up, which was from a Chicken – here’s that one for comparison:

Chicken pelvis

As you can see, our mystery pelvis is a good bit smaller than that of the Chicken, and in terms of the shape, while it has some similarities, but it’s more compact and almost square. I’m not 100% sure why, but that makes me think of something that has a more upright body orientation than a Chicken.

Part of the reason it’s more square is that the areas of muscle attachment for the iliotrochantericus caudalis muscles (which I talked about a couple of weeks ago) don’t extend far forward, which suggests its femur isn’t being stabilised to enable a long stride. The attachment is quite wide though, so I suspect it may be optimised to cope with large forces in a burst instead.

There are a few species that would fit the bill (if you’ll excuse the pun) including Grouse – which was suggested by Chris Jarvis and it is remarkably similar – but this is the pelvis of a Rock Dove (in this case the domestic version) Columba livia Gmelin, JF, 1789 which was correctly spotted by Adam Yates.

I thought this one might be nice to use, as it lets me share a blast from the past that looks at the explosive take-off of a Pigeon, from Ben Garrod’s TV series Secrets of Bones, which I had the privilege to be scientific advisor for back in 2014. I hope you find the clip interesting!