this odd bone is something i found a few weeks ago, just before getting myself lost in the woods. it looked like a small skull from afar, but when i picked it up i couldn't figure out what it was or where it came from. if anyone has a clue, i'd be happy to know.
[edit: it's likely to be the back of a raccoon dog skull.]
the bone measures roughly 3 by 2 inches and is relatively heavy even though it's completely hollow. there were no other pieces to put it to any context with. the location is finland's southwest coast, the edge of a fairly vast forested area. the markings on the bone seem to be tendon imprints rather than gnawing marks, but i'm no expert on this.
(blogger insisted that the bottom two photos be up that way, even though they are in landscape format like the rest, so i just left them as is instead of downloading a dozen attempts to get them right.)
Hi Sylvi,
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I think this is either the back bit of a fox or a dog skull. I have a fox skull, and it looks almost the same but some things are different so I think it might be a dog. The ear bones look bigger than on my fox skull, and the ridge at the top of the braincase looks bigger on yours. The hole at the back about the size of your finger is where the spine goes in. The first picture is the underneath of the skull.
Here are some pictures of my fox skull.
http://jakes-bones.blogspot.com/2009/08/rebuilding-fox-skeleton.html
In the second picture you can see teeth marks where the skull has been chewed. Some animals like deer do this to get calcium and other minerals.
Hope this helps !
Jake
thank you so much jake, for pointing me into the right direction! the lack of eye sockets threw me off, but now that i've seen your fox skulls it's all adding up and starting to make sense. i'll be looking into canine skulls, then. brilliant!
ReplyDeleteVery cool, but kind of macabre. Glad you solved the mystery though!
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