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Skull

  • #41
well theres Subclass Anapsida (turtles). Members of the Subclass Anapsida have no fenestration in the skull
turteatdandelion.gif
so i suppose they are fenestrations

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  • #42
[b said:
Quote[/b] (TheAlphaWolf @ Mar. 13 2005,10:17)]That can't be the nasal opening because it's not centered.
there is another one on the other side..
its broken off..
there are 2 of them, symmetrical.
Scot
 
  • #43
We just might have it identified!
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[b said:
Quote[/b] (Fruitbat @ Mar 13 2005, 08:31 PM)]
You've definitely got a partial skull there and it is very likely the skull of an Arctic Loon (Gavia arctica).  The typical characteristics regarding your partial skull are as follows:
1)  the frontals are pierced by large anterior perforations
2)  the large, prominent supraorbital grooves have numerous small perforations (this character by itself identifies the bird as a member of the Gaviiformes)
3)  the temporal fossae are deep and are separated by a well-defined sagittal ridge


Here are those features labeled on your partial skull:

loon.jpg


The two holes in the top of the skull are not naturally occurring and were placed there by some natural or man-induced process.  It is remotely possible that the bird was bitten by a carnivore and that those holes are artifacts of such an event.

Hope this helps a bit,

-Joe
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gaviaarctica_s.jpg
 
  • #44
smile_o_32.gif
 
  • #45
Well so much for an alien
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  • #46
That's pretty good for IDing a partial skull. It looks like just the part above and behind the eye socket.
I thought it was from a bird
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  • #47
ahhh... you were saying alphawolf?
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I like being right.
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lol
 
  • #48
lol... it still doesn't look like that bird skull there... where's the part at back of the skull? and if you notice... on the picture of the complete bird skull, if you break the top of the eye socket, I don't see how you get that downward slope thing with the holes. ...
but what the heck. I'm no skull expert :p
 
  • #49
cause ur seeing it at a different angle. probably a common loon, artic is a quite rare species
 
  • #50
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]no animals has its eyes on the top of its cranium..

..that we know of. It doesn't look like eye sockets to me, because that area of bone would be alot thicker and deeper, but I felt obliged to make my usual point that science is only what we think we know about the world. We don't know everything and just because it's science doesn't mean the whole physical world has to be bound by it or that it's the boundary of what is possible. Just sayin'.

I was thinking ickthyosaur at first as well.. it's a prehistoric fish-like animal, hell, I don't remember much else.. it's been a while since I went through the dinosaur phase. But it can't be, since the skull isn't fossilized.

This was starting to sound like a sweet X-Files episode idea for a while there.
 
  • #51
its not fossilized
 
  • #52
Naw, only loons around here are arctic loons, wintering. It's an arctic loon skull. Unless you count me (I'm loony.. get it?)
 
  • #53
you are talking of the pacific loon, untill recently considerd a race of the artic loon, wich it closely resembles. It is now known to be a distinct species. Sorry i tought u were on the east coast. The red-throated loon also winters there.
 
  • #54
Yes, Finch, I had every intention of mentioning the fact that it couldn't be prehistoric since it's not fossilized in the last post, but I forgot.. *edits*
 
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