Animal Skull

[dawnita]

Can anyone tell me how to go about identifying what this animal was? I came across it's skull yesterday when I would out taking pictures in a marshy area in the Charlotte, NC area. I will post a couple more pictures, but this is the picture that turned out the most dramatic.

Dawnita

[rpk717]

Dawnita,

Site rules only allow you to post one image a day. Reposts are allowed within the same post when you are following comment suggestions to change something in the original image such as the crop or to manipulate the image for color or contrast. I have deleted the two other images.

[mrsisu]

Do you have a university near you that might have somebody able to look at the images in ?biology or anthropology? Maybe measurements would be helpful. Maybe site on internet that could help. Thats all I can think of. Good luck.

[rpk717]

I would say this was a white tailed deer. However it could be a cow, hard to tell without some sort of size comparison. Here is a link to a skull identification website.

Click HERE (http://www.d91.k12.id.us/skyline/teachers/robertsd/skulls.htm) and then choose Mammal Skulls. I looked at the Deer, White-tailed skull and it looked a lot like your image.

[Photobiologist]

Based on the one photo that is up, it is a 2 1/2-year old white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). (And I'd also hazard a guess that it is a female because if you found the skull of a male (with antlers), I'd bet you would recognize it)...

White-tailed deer are typically aged by their dentition and wear patterns. This is definitely the lower jaw of a white-tailed deer. And all the wear patterns are consistent with a very typical 2 1/2-year old.

Neat find!

[Photobiologist]

Oh yeah - I really like this shot!

I've taken a LOT of pictures of deer mandibles (for use in seminars on aging deer...), but I don't have one that I like for artsy reasons nearly as much as I like yours! Very creative way to see that thing!

[dawnita]

Thanks for the help. It was my first time taking pictures of a dead animal. I laid on a clean trashbag so I could get the low shots and I still could smell the dead smell several hours later even though none got on my clothes.

Dawnita