Tag Archives for Natural history

Friday mystery object #28 answer

On Friday I presented you with this mystery object:

This specimen is one of 14 of the same species that we have in the Study Collections Centre at the Horniman Museum. Myself and a collegue (Steve, king of knots) recently remounted all of our trophy plates on steel mesh, using steel S-hooks, plastazote foam and archival tape restraints and supports. The outcome has been very satifactory:

Unfortunately, most of these specimens have been donated from private collections where the information has not been retained with the specimen, so I have had to identify pretty much all of these trophies. The one I showed you on Friday is most likely to be a Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #28

It’s Friday again, so that means it’s time for a mystery object! Any idea what this is?

I’ve recently been through the process of identifying, organising and remounting the antlers and game heads in the Horniman’s stores building (it looks really good now!). It turns out that most of the deer antlers we have belong to one species – the one pictured above in fact. Can you identify it and do you notice anything unusual about the one in the picture?

Put your answers and any questions in the comments section below. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #27 answer

On Friday I gave you this scrawny looking bird to identify:

The beak (and feet) gave away that it is a parrot (or psittaciform as the parrots are known to ornithologists and the taxonomically minded), which was immediately recognised by SmallCasserole shortly followed by Debi Linton. SmallCasserole suggested “parakeet” which I suppose could be accepted as a correct identification since they are called “parakeets” by Americans, but it took Jim to identify it more specifically – it is of course a Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #24

Hello blogosphere! It’s Friday again – the first of the New Year, so I’d like to wish everyone a happy and productive 2010!

Having been on the road for the last couple of weeks I have been struggling to find a suitable mystery object, but here’s one I prepared earlier:

Simple question – what is it? Answers in the comments section below – I will try to feedback on questions as opportunity permits. Good luck and happy New Year!

Friday mystery object #23 answer

I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas, apologies for the late posting of the answer to Christmas Friday’s mystery object, but better late than never. I must admit that this was a bit of a cheat, because I have posted one of these before, but this time it had antlers and it was gift wrapped:

Without antlers it proved tricky before, but this time only a few of you got to see it at all (I assume due to Christmas). Jim is the only one to have identified it this time, although KateKatV took this opportunity to remind me about a bit of silly season science from a few years ago – something that might merit a blogpost all to itself…

With no further ado, here is the unwrapped object:

This is a Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #23

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!

Friday mystery object #22

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!

Friday mystery object #21

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!

Friday mystery object #19 answer

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 →

Friday mystery object #19

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!

Friday mystery object #18 answer

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 →

Friday mystery object #18

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.