Dear All,
My friend and colleague Filippo Manconi is studying an animal
bone assemblage of Roman date from Olbia (north-east Sardinia,
Italy) and has found among the remains a fragment of a large tooth
("crashing plate" as I think is sometimes called) of a ray (rajiform).
He has asked me for some help with the identification of the
species because of easier access to comparative collections in
this country. However, a visit to the Natural History Museum in
London has proved to be inconclusive, though it is clear that the
specimen derives from a very large animal. The specimen
(incomplete) is about rectangular in shape, convex and about
6.5x5cm in size. Is there anybody there who has an good
collection of ray skeletons and who is willing to help with the
identification? Filippo and I would be most grateful. If this can help I
can also photograph the specimen, scan the photo and send the
file as an attachment.
With best wishes,
Umberto
Umberto Albarella
Department of Ancient History and Archaeology
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2TT
U.K.
tel. +44/121/4147386
fax. +44/121/4145516
email [log in to unmask]
http://www.bham.ac.uk/BZL
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