Friday mystery object #18

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for my 18th mystery object. This week I have picked a skull (I can hear the groans already), but it’s a cute one and when I asked Melissa (who is not a biologist) what it is she got it in three guesses. I asked her how she worked it out and her reply was ”I thought about it and it worked”, which speaks volumes about the principles behind identification methods.

So, I invite you to think about this and see if you too can make it work:

So, what is it? Answers in the comments section below – I’ll also do my best to respond to any questions, but tomorrow is a busy day for me, so I might not get much opportunity. Remember – think about it and it might just work.

P.S. if you get it early on I might turn your answer white to give others a chance of working it out for themselves.

Friday mystery object #17 answer

On Friday I gave you this mystery object:

and after a long bout of Q&A Fia managed to get the correct answer – it is indeed a

Friday mystery object #17

I can’t believe it’s Friday again – it’s all a bit hectic at the moment, so apologies for the late posting of this week’s mystery object.

 Here’s a rather odd object from the Horniman’s collections – any idea what it might be?

 

As usual, post your answers below and if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them!

Friday mystery object #16 answer

On Friday I gave you this image and asked you to identify what it is:

I am pleased to say that it led you a merry chase before we got to the correct answer – but very well done to Debi, Jim and especially Woolgatherer for getting there! It is indeed a

Friday mystery object #16

I’ll keep it simple today and leave you free to ask questions about this week’s mystery object. Quite simply, can you work out what this is:

Comments and questions below – I will provide answers as I am able.

Good luck!

Friday mystery object #15 answer

On Friday I gave you a palaeontological mystery object and asked you to choose what you thought it was from a poll:

As it turns out, you did pretty well, with 60% of you selecting the correct category (with a couple of you making comments which went into greater detail). The object in indeed a piece of fossil 

Friday mystery object #15

It’s Friday again and I feel it may be time to introduce an object from the area of my original training (that’s palaeontology). Imagine that you’re me, searching through the drawers in a museum and you come across this:

What is it from? It looks scaly, but that’s about all you can tell from looking at it. Based on the scales, what do you think this is most likely to be?

Make your selection in the poll below – if you think you can give a more detailed description that those offered in the poll please add it in the comments section below.

Good luck everyone!

Friday mystery object #14 answer

On Friday I gave you a bit of a change from museum specimens and presented you with this:

Everyone managed to get the identification to at least within the Order level (it’s in the Orthoptera), which is good going when dealing with insects. The hard bit came down to whether it was a cricket or grasshopper. Now, the photo does not show the most important feature for distinguish between these two types of orthopteran: it’s the antennae length that gives it away (grasshoppers have short antennae, crickets have long antennae). Colour is not really important (sorry KateKatV).

That said, the vivid green colour, speckled appearance, lack of wings and characteristics shape of the ovipositor (curved bit at the back which means this is a female) are a give-away for those who are familiar with this particular beastie (and for those who use Google image to help with their identifications). It is in fact a

Friday mystery object #14

Last week I let Harrison pick an object that proved a bit too difficult (although perhaps I could have been more generous with the clues I gave…). This week I am giving you something that is actually alive and commonly found in gardens in the UK – so it should be a doddle to identify:

Simple questions – what species is it (binomial name gets you kudos) and what gender is it?

Answers in the comments section below – but I’m afraid I won’t be able to respond to comments this week. Good luck!

Friday mystery object #13 answer

Crumbs, it appears that last Friday’s object stumped everyone! Harrison certainly chose a difficult one…

SmallCasserole came closest, asking:

Is it antler or horn?

but my response:

Antler or horn that thick?

was perhaps too ambiguous – because there is a horn out there that is this thick, that of a