Sunday, 28 February 2016

An Elephant's Tusk?

It's is about 3' long, resembles an elephant's tusk, and was washed up on one of Ardnamurchan's beautiful sandy beaches.

The Raptor, who found it and is fairly sure it isn't part of an elephant, would like to know what it is.

He has his suspicions, and the Diary thinks that, since it was the Raptor who found it, it's bound to be something ornithological. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Many thanks to the Raptor for the pictures.
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10 comments:

  1. woody13529 February 2016 at 07:12

    We think that it is a whale or dolphin penis

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jon29 February 2016 at 11:59

    Many thanks, Ian, for sorting that out. Alistair Gray has sent a comment agreeing - it's a cetacean's baculum or penis bone, found in many placental animals but not humans. Jon

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jon29 February 2016 at 15:36

    Graham has identified it as "Definitely a walrus tusk. Exactly the correct length and curvature."

    Which is it? Jon

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alistair29 February 2016 at 15:55

    I have just read that whales don't have a baculum but walrus do.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jon29 February 2016 at 16:02

    So is it a walrus' baculum or a walrus' tooth - or something quite different? Jon

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous29 February 2016 at 18:12

    You'll need a photo of a cross-section: bone has a particular structure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. woody1351 March 2016 at 02:31

    The remaining 'tissue', the lack of twist (or screw), and the feature on the tip of the item still tend to point towards the penis. Can you tell whether it was it bone or tooth-like in composition ?

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  8. Derryck Morton1 March 2016 at 06:38

    Fibrous attachment suggests not a walrus tooth.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jon1 March 2016 at 11:05

    The Raptor writes, "The object is most certainly not bone or Ivory, it is flesh, and in the close up the tip is protruding from a sort of sheath, so it's maybe a horn but it's no unicorn horn."

    ReplyDelete
  10. woody1351 March 2016 at 21:59

    Definitely looks like the tip of a penis to us, especially now that you say that "it is fleshy".

    ReplyDelete

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