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Wildlife Spotting

Photo by LizaDaniel
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

lol.. the people who found this thought the front was the top (pic 2) and the top was the back(pic 3)
IDK,,, anyone that knows about skeletal structure would recognize pic2 as a broken off muzzle
I believe it is a sea mammal of the pinniped type

Notes:

This skull was found by a friend of mine at a beach here where we live in Fort Bragg CA. Can anyone identify it? Fish & game has already come & checked it out & they don't know what it is either. .

honestly not sure if it is mammal. fish. reptile. ampibian...

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (25)
Scott Frazier
Moved to the category, Mammals. http://courses.washington.edu/vertebra/452/photos/mammals/harbor-seal_skull_dorsal.jpg
LizaDaniel
I know bones pretty well, and if i had more info than that one pic before, I wouldnt have even wondered. I told the person they had the thing upside down, they still dont believe me LOL
Jellis
The site from where I got the turtle image are experts with animal and human bones.
JoshuaGSmith
Sharp work guys. I still think it's from an ET, just kidding! :)
LizaDaniel
good work Jellis.. I am thinking you are right, and if I had the skull in my hands, I wouldnt have gotten so confused by its actual makeup
Jellis
So it's only part of a skull
Jellis
Stand corrected. From experts: The skull is from a harbor seal. It is just the cranium (brain case) portion. The photo is showing the underside (ventral side) of the skull
LizaDaniel
thank you Ava T-B, I am new to this board and it is now on that mission.
Ava T-B
This could go in the Identifying Animals Through Osteology mission at http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8475425
Jellis
This is what is left of a turtle http://www.skullsunlimited.com/userfiles/image/variants_large_6876.jpg
Jellis
There is no real bottom to a Turtle. The shell is the largest piece to a turtle. This is a bottom of a turtle. http://www.californiaherps.com/turtles/images/cmmarmorataplastpfidenci.jpg
Jellis
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leatherback_turtle_2.jpg
LizaDaniel
Jellis.. it is about 7 or 8 inches across and very hard.. not thinking vertebrae but I did look into some.. .I came across turtle. thinking it looked a bit like a turtle bottom
LizaDaniel
IDK< Jellis, I would like better pics too.. trying to get more.
Jellis
I would suggest taking it to a vet. Maybe send photos to Davis University.
Jellis
Odd I never seen the back of a skull. But if it were why wasn't photograph taken from the other side where the skull is .
Jellis
Example is the image on the left is the Vertabrae of a Pitbull http://www.paulamacgregor.com/uploads/1/1/0/7/11078275/_1197555.jpg
JoshuaGSmith
The back of the skull is facing you in this photo. That's why the at the bottom center you can see the vertebral attachment point.
Jellis
I don't believe that is even a skull. There wouldn't be anything covering eyesockets on a skull
JoshuaGSmith
Snapping turtles have a somewhat similar skull.
LizaDaniel
yeah wish we had more pics!!! I was wondering how the face could be so flat... but those horns
JoshuaGSmith
This is the back side. At the end, you can see where it attached to the vertebrae.
LizaDaniel
I dont Ashley T, but it was described to me as a extremely hard and about the size of a cereal bowl
AshleyT
Do you still have this in your possession? It would be really helpful to take a photo from above with a ruler, then also photos from the side and back

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Identifying Animals Through Osteology
Photographed
PublishedMarch 5, 2015

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