Hi Hannah,
Have you ruled out the possiblity that it is one of the peak districts
own Bennet's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus; apparently released into
the local Peak District in the 1930s, surviving in the wild for many
decades - sightings still as recent as 2011)? Of course the
collections came from numerous zoos and country parks, so could be
anything.
Just a thought (no comment on the morphology as yet, but I do know
that those collections had several).
Mike
On 3 January 2013 10:21, Hannah Russ <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Thanks Elspeth, Dave, Dr. Deb, Melanie and Sarah!
>
> So we are certainly dealing with a marsupial, but it seems that getting
> exact species is going to be a little more tricky.
>
> From images I can find online both common bushtail possum and opossum look
> close. I'm also looking into a suggestion of Tasmanian devil.
>
> This could literally be from anywhere, the rest of the collection contained
> fauna native to both America and Australia (and almost everywhere else for
> that matter!).
>
> I'll keep you posted with any further developments.
>
> Thanks you again, all the best, Hannah
>
> ________________________________
> From: Melanie Fillios <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Thursday, 3 January 2013, 9:04
>
> Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] Mystery skeleton ID
>
> Dear Hannah,
>
> I agree with Sarah. I've just had a look at some brushtail possum elements,
> and they are very similar (and my bones do match the size of yours). So
> unless you could have Australian fauna, opossum seems to be a good bet.
>
> Good luck!
> Melanie
>
> --
> DR MELANIE FILLIOS | ARC Post-doctoral Felllow
> Department of Archaeology | Faculty of Arts
>
> THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
> T +61 2 9351 4853 | F +61 2 9351 3918 | M +61 405 421 466
>
>
>
>
> On 3/01/13 4:00 PM, "Sarah Croker" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Dear Hannah,
>>
>> My first thought on seeing the humerus was that it looked very
>> marsupial. I'm only familiar with some Australian marsupials, and it
>> looks very similar to my pictures of a Common Brushtail Possum humerus
>> and femur. However, it's not quite right, and yours is a bit bigger
>> than I think a Brushtail would be, so I'd say the suggestions of an
>> American opossum sound good.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Sarah Croker
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr Sarah Croker
>>
>> Discipline of Anatomy and Histology
>> Building F13
>> University of Sydney
>> NSW 2006 Australia
>> Ph: +61 2 9351 6545
>> Em: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Quoting Hannah Russ <[log in to unmask]>:
>>
>>> Happy New Year Zooarchers!
>>>
>>> I thought I'd start the year with a mystery ID!
>>>
>>> Last year we ran a project in Sheffield that re-housed around 1000
>>> museum skeletal specimens that were either going to be disposed of,
>>> or had been in long term storage. For the most part the specimens
>>> were in excellent condition and very well labelled, making excellent
>>> additions to our already extensive zooarchaeology reference
>>> collection. However, we got one almost complete, unlabelled,
>>> skeleton (minus skull) of a cat sized animal from Creswell's surplus
>>> modern comparative collection. Despite it being almost complete we
>>> are still scratching our heads over what species it is!
>>>
>>> It doesn't match anything in our reference collection here in
>>> Sheffield. We know it has a long tail and claws, clavicles are
>>> present, as are epipubic bones.
>>>
>>> I have photographed the humerus, scapula, femur, pelvis and tail
>>> which can be seen at the link below:
>>> http://alexandriaarchive.org/bonecommons/items/show/1884
>>>
>>> Any ideas would be most appreciated. It looks so sad sat in the lab
>>> waiting to be labelled, we'd really love to incorporate it into the
>>> collection.
>>> Have a fantastic 2013 everyone!
>>>
>>> All the best, Hannah
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>
--
Dr Mike Buckley
Faculty of Life Sciences
Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre
131 Princess Street
Manchester
M1 7DN
UK
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