This is one of two images currently available of a mysterious primate skull found yesterday just outside Dallas. I am waiting to see how long it will be before someone leaps upon it with glee, proclaiming it to be the skull of bigfoot.It's not, because, although there is nothing in this picture for scale, the video embedded at http://www.nbcdfw.com:80/news/local/Its-a-Skull-But-What-Kind.html shows that it fits comfortably on the palm of the hand of the geezer who found it. It will, however, be interesting to see how the story unfoldS.
It looks like a skull belonging to some species of macaque or baboon.
ReplyDeleteSkull of a Rhesus macaque: http://www.boneclones.com/images/bc137_web-lg.jpg
This species is commonly bred as a laboratory animal, and at one time, it was commonly offered as a pet. Texas is known for its rather loose exotic animal ownership laws, so it's very possible that this was someone's pet monkey.
I think it is more likely a macaque, simply because both Japanese and Rhesus macaques were widely available on the pet trade.
West Texas even had its own feral population of Japanese macaques.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A283057
Further, baboons have a more "wolf-like" skull with a narrower muzzle.
Adult male macaques have canine teeth that are about an inch long, while adult male baboons have much larger canine teeth.
Looks like a gorilla skull, and not a very old one at that. Maybe from a late 19th, early 20th century circus?
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