A small collecton of skulls

Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
43
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
Upcoming project: a beautiful dead barn owl.
No external damage, only some blood on the beak. It turned out to be a female (judged by the broad black bands on the primaries). It was underweight (222 grams, it should be around 300) and very skinny. I collected the head and skinned it to preserve the skull. The head is a wonderfully soft, baseball-sized sphere, covered in lush feathering, 3 cm deep all around.
Pictures will follow.

Cheers,

Tom
 
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Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
43
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
As promised, some pics. End result will take some time...
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Cheers,

Tom
 

Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
43
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
After rotting, cleaning & bleaching here's how the barn owl skull turned out:




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There's small bones connecting the lower jaw to the skull missing in the pictures (too much hassle to keep them in place for the pics).

The beak is much longer than you would expect from seeing a live bird! The upper jaw can move up, independent of the skull (see the thin hinge region where both connect).

A very beautiful skull, I feel privileged.

Cheers,

Tom
 
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Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
43
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
A short holiday in the Auvergne region, France, delivered an unexpected present...a freshly killed asp viper (Vipera aspis)!
It was presumably the victim of a cat because of the location (on top of stone wall) and the mortal wound (crushed neck).
I cut off the head and took it with me back to Holland in a glass jar filled with salt.

After treatment by bluebottle larvae, some cutting to remove the skin, short boiling, and incubation in a solution with Biotex, the fleshy parts were removed. Some pieces of the lower jaw have lost their attachments so I have a few loose parts now.

Not all ligaments and tendons have been removed and treatment with (nearly) boiling water and incubations were very short because if the treatment is too harsh the skull will disintegrate in to several pieces, and I will try to avoid that as good as I can.

The viper skull itself is tiny in comparison with the big arcs of the lower jaws. The teeth are needle sharp. A surprise was that on one side their was an extra venom-delivering fang (2 instead of one, see pics).













It looked more lively with its body removed...









The bony parts are now being whitened in a hydrogen peroxide solution. Pictures of the finalised skull -when I hopefully have puzzled all the bits back together again- will follow later.

Fun, fun, fun!

Cheers,

Tom
 
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Pattree

Full Member
Jul 19, 2023
2,086
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UK
I don’t have a collection but I’m de-fleshing a road kill tawny owt skull for a friend. I just leave it on an ant hill in the edge of my “lawn.” For the last couple of weeks I’ve just eased it out of the ground as the little workers try to bury it - it’s coming along.

Every so often I bring home a road kill fox. Unfortunately the ones that I want have been hit in the head. I want the pelt. If I find an intact head I’ll hand it to the ants and then put it up here if anyone wants it. Don’t hold your breath but it can happen.
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,815
1,511
Stourton,UK
After some 3D-puzzling with all the loose bony fragments, this is the finalised asp viper skull:
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Cheers,

Tom
Now that Tom, is absolutely superb. It’s a nightmare to reconstruct snake skulls. Vipers replace their fangs often, which is why you have a replacement ready to go on the one side. If you zoom in on the Gaboon skull below, you’ll see that they can have a few in reserve ready to go. The smaller vipers don’t hold such reserves as their smaller teeth grow faster.

8A1BE89E-3E9E-4C77-980A-F5B2B6B46F13.jpeg
 
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Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
43
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
Thank's for the kind words Jonathan!
Both sides of the skull had multiple fangs, some were hidden in the gum/cartilage and were only revealed in the late stages of the preparation process. I'll add some close ups later this week.

@jonathan: could you tell by the initial pictures if this was a female or a male? It should be discernible by the length of the tail but I can't see it for myself.

Cheers,

Tom
 

FerlasDave

Full Member
Jun 18, 2008
1,857
621
Off the beaten track
Now that Tom, is absolutely superb. It’s a nightmare to reconstruct snake skulls. Vipers replace their fangs often, which is why you have a replacement ready to go on the one side. If you zoom in on the Gaboon skull below, you’ll see that they can have a few in reserve ready to go. The smaller vipers don’t hold such reserves as their smaller teeth grow faster.

View attachment 82629

Interesting! I presume they spring into place much like a sharks tooth too?
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,815
1,511
Stourton,UK
Interesting! I presume they spring into place much like a sharks tooth too?
Almost. Sharks teeth, like most snakes are fixed, vipers teeth are hinged like an automatic knife so they fold down along the roof of the mouth when they close their mouths, then spring forward and out when they open them. This is due to them being so long. Elapids like mambas and cobras have short fangs so this isn’t a problem. Vipers can close their mouths without folding their fangs down, but they are left outside of the lower lip like a sabre toothed tiger. It’s rare to see them like that, but they do it occasionally, usually after tiring themselves out by striking repeatedly at a threat.
 
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Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
43
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
As promised some more pics of the asp viper skull and its preparation. Not visible is that one of the lower jaw halfs disintegrated in to its 2 components that had to be glued together again. Both sides of the upper jaw contained 3 fangs.















Cheers,

Tom

PS @JonathanD: thanks for confirming this specimen as a female (well almost certain), Could it have been pregnant or should that have been more obvious from the pictures?
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,815
1,511
Stourton,UK
Nice one Tom, they’re excellent.

Not sure that she was gravid. The bloating is most likely caused by necrotic gasses.
 

daveO

Native
Jun 22, 2009
1,459
525
South Wales
Part of my collection. All from animals I found dead.

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I'm also working on building a fully articulated dodo skeleton out of Lego due to lack of available dodos.
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Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
43
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
Great collection, keep them coming!

Is that a fox(?) In the background & some boar tusks on the left?
What species are the smaller bird skulls? Sparrow/finch?
I really like the lego dodo! One of my favourite birds.

Cheers,

Tom
 

Zingmo

Eardstapa
Jan 4, 2010
1,296
119
S. Staffs
I haven't ”collected" this; I just took a picture and left it in the woods. I have an idea what it is but can anyone more knowledgeable say for sure? 1000012400.jpg
 

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