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Skull Identification

rustneversleeps

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Joined
Nov 22, 2017
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449
Location
Montana
Wondering if anyone has any ideas...when I originally found it, there were no other bones around and it was fairly deep in the national forest. Pretty small canines. Pretty round and not much of a sagital crest. Prob 6 or so inches across the back of the skull and 8-10 or so inches in length. Eyes facing forward so feel like its some sort of predator. Leaning towards small/juvenile coon?

skull1.jpg
skull2.jpg
 
I've never seen one personally but a 10" coon skull seems impossible.
What about an immature/cub black bear?
First though when I saw it was black bear cub...the more rounded sagital crest is throwing me off. There was some black fur above one of the eyes is also why I was leaning that way.
 
The best thing is to learn how to use a dichotomous key. It is a series of yes or no questions that help you to arrive at a correct identification. They have them for all sorts of things: butterfly id, mineral id, etc. The one for skulls will help you to be able to identify key characteristics on skulls that will teach you how to quickly recognize traits: felines have very large orbital sockets, canines have long nasal bones, etc. Here is a link to one: here.
 
I'm going to put a tape measure on it when I get home from work - thanks for all the replies and ideas, I appreciate it
 
Ollin Magnetic Digiscoping Systems

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