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07-11-2016, 11:42 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Communist Capital of Alberta
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Need a little help (actually a lot) with a skull I.D.
So we went to visit my wife's friend on Vancouver Island and while at her place I notice this skull on her bookshelf. I asked her what it was and she had no clue, which made me feel better because I was stumped.
She said she found it on the beach in Parksville and cleaned it up.
Apologies for not throwing a reference item in there, but it's about the size of what a spotted whitetail fawn would be.
Teeth in the lower jaw are sharp and hooked (yes, the jaw is backwards). For some reason I want to believe the lower jaws don't belong to this skull, but she said it was intact. Upper molars are similar to a deer's, as is the overall layout of the skull.
The "horns" over the eye sockets is what's really got me stumped.
Anyway, I'm all ears to any realistic ideas...  
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Last edited by CBintheNorth; 07-11-2016 at 11:47 PM.
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07-12-2016, 12:04 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2009
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young blacktail buck with salmon jawbones....
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07-12-2016, 12:22 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2013
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Not an expert by any means but i would agree with walking buffalo those look a lot like salmon jaws and the size description of the skull fit with a young blacktail.
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07-12-2016, 07:03 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walking buffalo
young blacktail buck with salmon jawbones....
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This is what I thought originally as well, but I've never seen the skull of such a young deer and the location of the horns seemed wrong to me. I figured they were too close to the outside of the head/eye socket, and missing a distinct pedicle? Or does the pedicle form closer to first dropping?
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Social acceptance is NOT effective therapy.
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07-12-2016, 07:11 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Central Alberta
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found it on the beach
Seal?
Grizz
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07-12-2016, 07:16 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: McBride/Prince George
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams
found it on the beach
Seal?
Grizz
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Was thinking the same.
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07-12-2016, 07:17 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Nacmine
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams
found it on the beach
Seal?
Grizz
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This is a good guess. The large eye sockets make sense.
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07-12-2016, 07:59 AM
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Do seals have upper teeth like that?
...googled seal skull...nope not it.
LC
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07-12-2016, 08:13 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2014
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Changing to 2 separate species. Walking Buffalo I beleive is correct.
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07-12-2016, 08:25 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Sylvan Lake
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I am going to go with a young horned animal like a goat or sheep. Could have washed down a river and/or been carried for miles by an eagle or scavengers. I agree that there are extra parts there as well.
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07-12-2016, 08:32 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2014
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definitely alien.
Two separate species for sure. that jaw does not belong on that skull. the skull is a very young bucks , found one a couple years ago that still had rest attached.
Jaw - not sure.
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07-12-2016, 05:24 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Alberta
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It's a button buck skull, they have those odd protrusions at the back of the eye socket
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07-12-2016, 06:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CBintheNorth
This is what I thought originally as well, but I've never seen the skull of such a young deer and the location of the horns seemed wrong to me. I figured they were too close to the outside of the head/eye socket, and missing a distinct pedicle? Or does the pedicle form closer to first dropping?
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Trust your instincts. 
Not to nitpick the terminology you used, but it is important to clarify terms to understand the features.
Deer don't have horns. Animals with horns have a bony horn core from which the keratinous horn sheath grows. So out with the use of "horns" in this explanation.
In this case, what you are calling a horn is the deer's pedicle, the bony profusion of the skull from which the antler grows. The buck did grow pedicles, just not well formed ones.
The location seems odd, when compared to an adult buck skull. Like a lot of other mammals, young deer tend to be born with relatively small heads which helps easy complications during birth. With maturity, the width of the skull will widen, and location of the pedicles will appear to be more central in relation to the overall dimensions.
And I'll add that it is a cool looking skull. I want one. lol....
And no doubt, those jawbones are from a salmon.
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Alberta Fish and Wildlife Outdoor Recreation Policy -
"to identify very rare, scarce or special forms of fish and wildlife outdoor recreation opportunities and to ensure that access to these opportunities continues to be available to all Albertans."
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07-13-2016, 06:16 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Communist Capital of Alberta
Posts: 3,770
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walking buffalo
Trust your instincts.
Not to nitpick the terminology you used, but it is important to clarify terms to understand the features.
Deer don't have horns. Animals with horns have a bony horn core from which the keratinous horn sheath grows. So out with the use of "horns" in this explanation.
In this case, what you are calling a horn is the deer's pedicle, the bony profusion of the skull from which the antler grows. The buck did grow pedicles, just not well formed ones.
The location seems odd, when compared to an adult buck skull. Like a lot of other mammals, young deer tend to be born with relatively small heads which helps easy complications during birth. With maturity, the width of the skull will widen, and location of the pedicles will appear to be more central in relation to the overall dimensions.
And I'll add that it is a cool looking skull. I want one. lol....
And no doubt, those jawbones are from a salmon. |
Thanks for the info.
I'm well aware that they're called 'antlers' on a deer, and not 'horns'. I still wasn't sure if this animal could be a young goat or something, as I've never seen a skull from one of those. Didn't think I'd get corrected so fast .
"The buck did grow pedicles, just not well formed ones."
This is the kind of info I was looking for. I've seen (and shot) various spike bucks in my life, but all had a distinct pedicle that ended at the hair line.
Thank you.
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