Help me ID this skull

jeepjeepwhat

jeepjeepwhat

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Here's the story. A son of a co-worker found this in the woods in the northern appalachian mountains of West Virginia. It doesn't look like any other animal I have ever seen. What really has me puzzled is how the vertebrae appear to start inside of the skull instead of the base of the skull like most animals. If you have any idea what it could be any let me know!

Top View

398487_167924299981865_100002928875081_307428_433037792_n.jpg


Side View

391169_167758356665126_100002928875081_307103_1582167216_n.jpg


Bottom View

403756_167758493331779_100002928875081_307104_1554141298_n.jpg
 
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jeepjeepwhat said:
No I am not sure it is a skull. It could be a pelvic bone, but still doesn't look like any pelvic bone I've seen before.
Click to expand...

its a skull without doubt. eye sockets, nasal cavity.

edit: why not email a pic or two to your local biologist?
 
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Most interesting. I wonder if it might be some amphibian.

Can you describe the strata in which it was found and whether it eroded out or was found in a dig of some sort? Was it just found in the woods, on the surface?

Can you send the photos to a zoo and see if they or a natural history museum might know?

Maybe Bear Bio or another wildlife biologist here may know.

I'll send a link to this to another board and PM a Norwegian wildlife artist and sculptor there and see if she knows. She specializes in mustelids and vivverids, and may know the skeletal structure if this is one of those mammalian species. Wish we knew more about the dentition.

I'll yield the floor now to those wags who will probably turn the topic into a farce, maybe saying that it's ET's skull. :rolleyes: BTW, I'm in the camp that isn't sure that it's a skull. Those may not be eye sockets and nasal orifices.
 
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I don't see a braincase.
If no braincase, it can't be a skull.
Ohh!
Wait!
I didn't think about some members......
Are we missing anybody?!?!
:D
 
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If I'd only seen the 2nd photo, I'd have guessed dinosaur. Its nearly twice the length of the Jeep Cherokee in the background!! :D
 
I took mammalogy in grad school and our final was to id any family of mammal by skull. We made up all kinds of mental "cheats". For instance, the molars of a badger have ridges that look like two "T"s and the scientific name in Taxidea Taxus.

That bone has no characteristics that I remember for a mammal skull. The underneath would show sockets for teeth. A molar would be very valuable. Also, the presence of a hard palate (roof of the mouth). Only mammals and crocodilians have a hard palate.

My vote is for a pelvis. It would likely be a bird or maybe a crocodilian, since it is so narrow. Most 4-legged animals would be proportionately wider (to provide support).

Be sure to let us know what you find out.

ps: The "eye sockets" look more like the ball sockets for the thigh bone (femur).
 
jeepjeepwhat,

Do not contact any experts. If it is not a turkey, goose, or emu, then it is most likely an eagle, hawk,or buzzard part and you will get a very expensive answer to your question. I would not want to be in possession of any protected species.
 
Either a Jersey Devil that moved a little south or a Chupacabra that moved a little north...

:P
 
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