My father is a fisherman in the Baltic sea, and he has found this very strange skull. I would like to know to which animal it belonged. Can someone help identify it? 
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
6
-
$\begingroup$ Unfortunately I don't have more photos or anything to measure the scale. This picture is all I've got. $\endgroup$– BassAstralCommented Sep 18, 2022 at 12:32
-
1$\begingroup$ You've got a coarse black cloth with a weave in the back-ground. If you can find the cloth type, you can probably make an estimate of rough dimensions. I'd hazard a guess of about 30-40 cm across the widest part and similar top-to-bottom. $\endgroup$– bob1Commented Sep 18, 2022 at 20:59
-
$\begingroup$ Thank you for your suggestion! I've manage to get rough estimate of the dimensions - around 30x25 cm. $\endgroup$– BassAstralCommented Sep 19, 2022 at 8:13
-
$\begingroup$ @BassAstral if you edit that information into your question, more people will see the dimensions and you are more likely to get an answer. $\endgroup$– bob1Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 19:53
-
$\begingroup$ I thought it might be a vertebral scute from a sea turtle, but apparently there are none in the baltic sea $\endgroup$– timeskullCommented Sep 19, 2022 at 20:59
|
Show 1 more comment
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
4
Looks like this is a neurocranium of a tuna or a similar species (dorsal view on this site).
I've also found a very similar picture of Atlantic blue tuna from USA, which seems to support that this is indeed a neurocranium.(source of the picture).
Thank you all for your help!
-
$\begingroup$ Can you add an inline image and supporting information of your ID? As of now it's more of a comment than an answer. Additional supportive evidence can consist of checking whether size measures and habitat correspond to your specimen, and whether the area of distribution of your ID matches where the specimen was found etc. $\endgroup$– AliceD ♦Commented Sep 20, 2022 at 9:26
-
1$\begingroup$ Thanks @AliceD! I've added an image and some more information, although I don't know how to specify all of the required information. My skills and knowledge in that regard are rather limited. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 20, 2022 at 10:20
-
3$\begingroup$ Great answer! You cannot know how happy I am that you posted an answer. I thought I was crazy for thinking it was a skull (based on the atlas bone and the sutures). Wish I could upvote this 10 times. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 20, 2022 at 17:21
-
1$\begingroup$ Just upvoted this 15 more times. :) Rarely is such a definitive answer provided so quickly to a mysterious object, much less from the OP themself. Very well done. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 22, 2022 at 12:36