Name the animal pt2

[Watser?]

What the *bleep* is this?!

http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/giant-turtle-001.jpg

http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/giant-turtle-002.jpg

http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/giant-turtle-003.jpg

[The Lone Ranger]

Do you have any information on it?

The carcass looks as if it has been partially burned.

In any event, despite the caption, I'm reasonably certain that's no turtle.

I'd say it's a half-decomposed carcass of something like a basking shark. Because sharks have no bones, the carcasses of big sharks often look very un-sharklike as they begin to decompose and fall apart. That would explain the dorsoventral flattening and the apparent lack of teeth (whale sharks and basking sharks have tiny teeth that are easy to miss).

An overhead picture establishing the overall body shape would be most helpful!

Cheers,

Michael

[The Lone Ranger]

The more I look at it, the more it looks like the badly decomposed body of a really big shark. It's especially evident in the top picture, where you can see what sure looks like the anterior portion of a shark's chondrocranium, complete with rostrum.

Cheers,

Michael

[Watser?]

I found it here (http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/turtle-beaching/)

Details are sketchy on these photographs of what is being labeld a Mystery Giant Marine Turtle (or is it a decomposing whale), thusfar, other than they are a record of a body from a recent Pacific Ocean beaching.

A whale seemed more likely to me, although it looks like these are scales. But maybe it is just burnt like you said.

[The Lone Ranger]

Hmm. The last picture is an important clue, assuming it's a pectoral fin.

http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/giant-turtle-004.jpg


If it were a whale, since a whale's pectoral fin is supported by bone, it'd almost certainly be broader. The same would be true of a giant turtle, but that's no turtle.

It looks like the cartilaginous elements that support a shark's pectoral fin, however.

So, barring better pictures, I'm guessing "big, largely decomposed shark." Whale's not a bad guess either, though; the top picture could be showing the baleen plates of a baleen whale.

It should be a relatively simple matter to tell by a dissection and genetic analysis. If it has a cartilaginous skeleton, it's an elasmobranch of some sort -- almost certainly a big shark.

If it has a bony skeleton, it'd be relatively simple to tell what type of bony fish or whale it's from.

Cheers,

Michael


ETA: It could be the carcass of a (rather small) Humpback Whale; their pectoral fins are relatively thinner than those of most other whales, and look a lot like that fin. It should be a simple-enough matter to determine; just open it up and look at the bone (or cartilage, if it's a shark) arrangement.

[The Lone Ranger]

I found a picture of a Humpback Whale showing off one of its pectoral fins:

http://www.neseabirds.com/graphics/hbflip.jpg


I don't know of any other sea creature with fins that are quite so distinctive-looking as those of a humpback whale, and the above photo of the mystery creature sure looks like the pectoral fin of a young humpback. So, I'm guessing that's what the mystery animal is -- the badly-decayed remains of a young humpback. That would explain the fin shape and the "chondrocranium" -- what looks like a shark's chondrocranium could actually be the remains of a whale's baleen plates. That would also explain the lack of teeth (baleen whales are toothless).


Cheers,

Michael

[maddog]

It looked to me like a barbecued chicken quarter, photoshopped in at XXXXXL scale.

#1164

[The Lone Ranger]

Hmm. I hadn't thought about that, but it could be a PhotoShop job. That would explain a lot, like the weird "burnt" pattern on the dorsal surface ...

[maddog]

I found a feather on the ground while I was out with the running group. I wondered if TLR could tell what kind of bird it came from. I put a ruler next to the feather in the photos to give a scale.

#1970

[Adam]

The feather looks like some sort of pheasant to me, but I'm pretty sure the foot visible in the second pic is form the North American species canis iratus.

[maddog]

The feather looks like some sort of pheasant to me, but I'm pretty sure the foot visible in the second pic is form the North American species canis iratus.

:D

I was thinking the bird might be a hawk. You're quite right on the paw, however.

#1971

[The Lone Ranger]

A question first, if I may:

Most feathers that large, if you hold it firmly and move it rapidly up-and-down, will make a considerable amount of noise as the air moves through them.

My guess is that this one won't, if you try the experiment. Assuming this is the case, I'm 99% sure of what species it came from ...


I have to attend a meeting right now, I'm afraid, but I'll be back in a couple of hours.


Cheers,

Michael

[The Lone Ranger]

Pheasant is a good thought, but the coloration makes it look much more like a feather from a Great Horned Owl to me. Hence the "sound test."

Most owl species have feathers that are structured so as to muffle sound, so air flowing over them makes much less noise than does air flowing over the feathers of a similar-sized bird of a different species. (If it is indeed an owl's feather, it shouldn't be silent as you move it up and down, but it'll probably be much quieter than would, say, a chicken's feather.)

Anyway, that's my thought: it appears to be from a Great Horned Owl.

Cheers,

Michael

http://birdsofsanibel.free.fr/Images/2004/Great%20Horned%20Owl.jpg

[maddog]

double post
#1975

[maddog]

Well, you are right, I think. I "whooshed" the feather up and down and there was little sound. The one feather was about 12" long. How big are horned owls, i.e., how big a wing span, etc.? And how prevalent in So Calif? what range do they normally occupy? are they migratory? Oh, and do you know what color the chicks are when they are hatched? I saw a big owl chick that had fallen out of its nest and died; it was mostly white. But then I don't know how many kinds of owls live around here.

:eek: :owl:

#1976

[The Lone Ranger]

They're pretty big birds. An adult can have a wingspan in excess of 4 feet, and can weigh over 3 pounds. Adults regularly prey upon full-grown skunks and often kill wandering housecats. They've even been known to attack and kill porcupines. (They're sometimes referred to as "flying tigers," because of their size and their willingness to attack large and/or dangerous prey animals.)


Great horned owls are common everywhere in North America except for the northern-most regions of Alaska and Canada, and parts of Mexico. So there aren't too many places in the continent where you won't find them.


In some parts of their range, they do migrate during the coldest parts of the year, but not where you live.

Until their permanent feathers come in, the young owlets are covered in fuzzy white down, so it's a good bet that the owlet you saw was a young great-horned.

Cheers,

Michael


http://www.blkittiwake.com/GreatHornedOwlBaby.jpg