Saturday, 8 September 2012

Skull Mystery

This photograph of a skull has been sent in by The Raptor.  He thinks it might, possibly, be from a Crucifix Fish, or Arlid Catfish - but can anyone positively identify it and, if it is a Crucifix Fish, can they suggest why it's turned up here?
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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous8 September 2012 at 14:33

    Possibly synsacrum bones from a bird?

    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=bird+skeleton+synsacrum&start=73&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1536&bih=776&tbm=isch&tbnid=_raCoqNDIHP-JM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ispot.org.uk/node/242211&docid=Uj-TqRfj8YYm8M&itg=1&imgurl=http://www.ispot.org.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/preview/images/2149/3694277f10d9270d060258ec97d2e57e.jpg%253Fnav%253Drelated&w=640&h=640&ei=nEhLUNSgD6i80QXhvoDoBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=178&vpy=456&dur=1830&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=122&ty=178&sig=105050878957448920657&page=3&tbnh=140&tbnw=140&ndsp=39&ved=1t:429,r:23,s:73,i:78

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous30 November 2012 at 05:00

    ...Bird Synsacrum. Definitely. No question. Previous Anon got it right.
    (So not a fish!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Samantha11 March 2013 at 16:22

    Hi there

    I picked up almost the identical thing in some beach debris today... near Cape Town!

    So you're saying it's def not a skull? Because what I have here looks a lot like a skull.

    Cheers!
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jon12 March 2013 at 10:54

    Hi Sam, good to hear from you. It's definitely not a skull. The people who commented know what they're talking about... even if I don't! Jon

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  5. catherine31 August 2013 at 19:50

    This image is so similar to a synsacrum I found on a west of Ireland strand, part of a broken bird skeleton - no head or feet, but 3 ft wings and a scatter of pure white feathers remained. Synsacrum 9 inched long. I cannot find out, either by asking local birders or wildlife rangers, what bird it might be. I'm thinking white egret? Gannet?

    Thanks - Catherine

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  6. Jon1 September 2013 at 09:41

    Hi Catherine - It's not likely to be a white egret around here - though we have seen the first egrets this summer. Gannet is a possibility. Jon

    ReplyDelete

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