On Friday I gave you a fairly straightforward mystery object to identify – at least straightforward in that it wasn’t an odd section or a fragment of bone, instead it was a very characteristic skull:
As a result a good number of you correctly identified this, with zinjanthropus first past the post with a general identification, Neil with the correct genus and David Craven with the full species identification. So well done everyone, this specimen is indeed the skull of a Continue reading
Happy Friday everyone! This week’s mystery object is a nice simple one. What is this:
As usual, questions, suggestions and comments below and I will do my best to answer.
Good luck!
On Friday I gave you one of the specimens on display at the Horniman Museum, photographed from an unusual angle, as the mystery object:
I thought it might prove tricky, but jonpaulkaiser managed to identify it within 16 minutes of it being posted. Impressive stuff! Matt King also managed to spot what general type of beastie this bit of bone belonged to; a Continue reading
On Friday I gave you this lovely skull to identify:
It seems to have been a bit more tricky than I had expected. It was immediately identified as a carnivore, which is spot-on, but from there it got a bit murky. I must admit that I could have been a bit more generous with clues, particularly when David Craven asked if this was a viverrid (the family containing the civets) – I took the question at the family level, so I said ‘no’, but I should probably have asked for clarification since this skull belongs to a member of a family that falls into the infraorder Viverroidea (according to some sources).
This is in fact the skull of a Continue reading
This Friday I’ve taken bit more effort than usual to get a decent picture of a specimen for the mystery object. It’s amazing the difference it makes when you use a tripod and allow a good long exposure. I’m sure you’ll all identify this in no time, but hopefully you’ll enjoy the image while you’re at it – there are few things quite as beautiful as bones:
Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions or just leave your thoughts in the comments section below – I’ll do my best to answer or drop hints as the day goes on. Good luck and I hope you enjoy!
On Friday I gave you what I consider to be a rather interesting mystery object:
I must apologise for my tardy responses to the excellent questions asked, on Friday I was at a fascinating conference about using DNA from natural history collections for research, hosted by the NHM, and I didn’t get an opportunity to address the questions until quite late.
The questions were astute from the outset, with Bob O’H asking if it was a bird – no doubt inspired by the lightweight structure of the bone. SmallCasserole suggested that it was the sectioned skull of a Cassowary, based on the presence of the bony crest (or more accurately the casque) – an opinion that was widely supported. However, Dave Godfrey raised the possibility that this skull belonged to a hornbill, a suggestion that Neil developed to arrive at the correct genus with David Craven delivered the coup de grace with the correct species identification of Continue reading
On Friday I gave you this skull to identify:
I used this skull because the shape really appealed to me when I stumbled across it in one of my office drawers – here are another couple of views of the same specimen:
Most of you quickly worked out that this skull belongs to a rodent – and a big rodent at that. The inflated nasal region was also quickly picked up by some of you and I think that’s what led Jonpaulkaiser to the correct answer first, followed by Neil who also managed a species level identification. Well done to everyone though, there were lots of very close attempts, with several of you missing out by a quill’s breadth – if you’ll excuse the frankly awful pun. This is of course (if you didn’t guess from the bad pun) a Continue reading
I am back at the Horniman this week, after last week’s soujourn to Plymouth. Yesterday I was working through some of the collections that I’ve been in the process of transferring from my office space to our stores building, when I came across this specimen:
I love the shape of this skull so much that I just had to have it as a mystery object. It would be too easy if I gave you a side-view, so you’ll just have to wait for that until Monday. Make your suggestions below and I’ll do my best to respond (although my home internet has been down for the past week, so I may be limited in how much opportunity I have to reply to questions).
Best of luck!
My guess is that the specimen was probably a fairly young adult, since most of the fragmentation of the skull is along suture lines. However, the disarticulation is greater than would be expected simply from a poorly fused specimen, so it looks like damage has also been sustained. Since the delicate nasal turbinates are still intact and in place, I expect the damage probably happened when they were still protected by soft tissue – making me suspect that it happened before the animal was skeletonised. Given the susceptibility of hedgehogs to getting run over, I expect that this individual was killed on the road by a glancing blow to the head that loosened teeth and sutures. I’m pleased to say that Jake agreed with my identification and cause of death for this specimen, so a hearty congratulations to him!
This week I am going to give you a genuine mystery object – something from the collections of the museum that has no identification. I have been dealing with a few of these sorts of things recently whilst organising the osteological (that’s bone) store.
Often specimens have been acquired in a big batch, which invariably means that there will be a box left at the end which contains the jumbled and broken bits and pieces that have lost information or have been separated from the rest of a specimen during the move from their old home, or at sometime in the distant past.
Here’s one such specimen:
(click for larger image)
Do you have any idea what this exploded skull might belong to – and why it might be exploded?
As usual post your suggestions below. I might not be able to answer any questions this week, because I’m off to Norway to visit a good friend I don’t see often enough in Trondheim. Who knows, next week I may have a Norwegian mystery object for you to identify… Good luck!
The mystery object on Friday was chosen by Taylor, a work experience student who assisted me in the collections last week. He picked a particularly tricky specimen:
However, I am pleased to say that Jake immediately spotted that it was a skull that had been sectioned and after some questions and some close guesstimates by Henry Gee (who was working through the various families within the Carnivora), it was eventually correctly identified by Jeremy, who worked out that it was in fact from a Continue reading
On Friday I gave you a bit of an oddity from the collections of the Horniman Museum to identify:
On Friday I gave you this tricky mystery object to identify:
It presented quite a challenge for everyone, but eventually Dave Godfrey managed to get the correct identification. Believe it or not, this is part of the skull of a Continue reading
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
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!
On Friday I presented you with this skull for identification:
Quick as a flash SmallCasserole had it identified and discussed and not long afterwards Jake also managed to identify it as belonging to a Continue reading
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!
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
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!
Zygoma 