My New Mystery Skull

[@connormcclelland2000]

Was following along with this using my own "mystery skull" i've had on my shelf for years that i found in the woods behind my house. As the video went on I slowly realized mine was matching up perfectly with yours, and when you said it was a marsupial I knew we both were holding a possum skull! So that was pretty neat. Childhood mystery solved!

[@jevinday]

That is so cool to hear! I bet it was so cool to realize that the skull you had was actually once part of a living, breathing animal.

[@PaleoRJ]

I actually learned something from this video. I never knew that you can tell the difference between a placental mammal and a marsupial just by looking at their skulls! So cool!

[@levim7184]

I got it from the thumbnail 🤣 that sagittal crest, flat skull and odd squamosal bone layout with the disproportionately large canines to molar/incisor size could only be the largest possum skull I've ever seen.

[@tannermcguire7713]

I honestly thought thilacyne so I wasn't too far off though it did look a bit small

[@possum_tails7167]

I always love these videos, I get them really quickly! But when I saw the thumbnail I instantly figured it out. Now I may be a bit biased.. but these creatures are really cool to study so I've looked at skulls like this for a long time. But WOW this skull is one of the larger opossum skulls I've seen, very impressive!

[@TheHortoman]

ive never seen one in the flesh (dead or alive) and i also could tell instantly from the thumbnail haha

[@GregSchechter]

Great video. I correctly guessed what it was, but only because I have a possum skull, so I was familiar with what it looked like. Really appreciate the step by step drill down. Learned a lot.

[@GregSchechter]

By the way, is there a book or app that breaks down all the identification steps like you do in your videos?

[@pineapplesideways3820]

Thilacine I guessed

[@DeRien8]

Love the casual taxonomy. I went to an enrichment program in elementary school where we got to use dichotomous keys to identify skulls by teeth and other skull features. Glad to see this sharing

[@ALV5252]

I love how you walk us through the different skeletal landmarks to narrow down the species

[@AminalCreacher]

The huge canine teeth and long snout definitely pushed me in the direction of canidae, but the incisors and shoe-shaped skull threw me off. I had no idea that opossums had big canines like that.

[@pineapplesideways3820]

Thilacine I thought

[@NattiKay]

I guessed it based on the teeth. Looked canine at first with the long snout and fangs, but instead of the big carnassial teeth you see in canines this lil guy's got what looks like a bunch of molars. The combo of big pointy canine teeth and lots of molars made me think, hmm, probably an omnivore, so what are some omnivorous species that look somewhat canine? Hmm, maybe raccoon, maybe possum, something like that. And then you said "not a placental mammal" and I was like AH YUP, gonna be a marsupial, gotta be a possum lol

[@flopdudegaming7443]

I just want to express my gratitude to you for making these informative yet engaging videos on skull morphology. Ever since I was a kid, I've had a fascination with life; but as I grew older and engaged with the academic community, I found myself increasingly unable to bear the drap and esoteric vocabulary and methods. Yet you bring an infectious enthusiasm to each of these ID videos and effectively communicate the arbitrary differences in morphology between groups of animals. Again, thank you so much!

[@dshe8637]

Thank you, this is brilliant. I love how you give us time to think about options. At first, I assumed it might be a fox or badger, but neither seemed to fit. The eyes and ridges are too small for foxes and it doesn't have the impression of power like a European badger. For me, the lack of big carnassials was a no for canines and those pointy, regular molars are intriguing. I guessed possum quite early on, but seeing you use the holes in the palate to differentiate marsupials was very interesting. There is a ridge along the top of the head, which I presume is to accommodate strong jaw muscles?

[@PGbanana]

The shape and size of the skull looks a lot like an Oh possum to me

[@Birdy3001]

I have never seen a possum before, I live in Europe, but I somehow guessed it at the very beginning. Love your videos

[@jann-martenjanssen6120]

Hi, I’m not 100% sure, if this was mentioned before but I think there is a typo on the tag of cabinet 10 (minute 5:17). There the genus of the fox is spelled “Velpes” instead of “Vulpes” with an “u” of the sub-family Caninae. Maybe you’ve already corrected it. Anyway love your organized and informative videos as an addition to my “normal” biology courses at university. Best regards & keep ‘er movin’!

[@magdam1508]

Knew it's a possum from the beginning! These videos are super interesting.

[@KnightmarePhoenix_official]

I thought it was a dog for a second but noticed the shape and size of the canine teeth and the smoothly sloped shape of the skull was unlike coyotes or other wild dogs. I guessed Virginia possum, since I remembered that their skulls were nicely sloped, with truly enormous, almost boarlike canines. Didn't expect the weird fenestrae to be significant, pretty cool.

[@jevinday]

I didn't realize that learning about animal anatomy is so interesting. It seems like the skeletal structures specifically are fascinating. I want to go back to school and study biology, I'm so jealous that you have access to all of these university labs! I would love to be able to visit a lab like that someday

[@breakdown4o148]

I never thought I’d actually guess it right but after watching a couple other videos a opossum was my first guess. I feel smart right now 😂

[@kadenwhiteaker]

I knew it had to be that one in the beginning, I had one in my rooms and are used to the size of those things. Plus the incisors made it to easy. Then when you said it was a marsupial, I didn't know they were the only, but I knew the opossums opposable thumbs made them a marsupial.

[@2TaterTot]

Oh my goodness, I have a possum skull and it took me the whole video to figure it out 😅

[@BOTB_RBLX]

I instantly recognized the babboon skull but not the main skull of the video.

[@DawnFire05]

I love that I get to decipher it alongside right with you, as you uncover more clues I get to guess more and more closely and feel so satisfied when I got it right before you reveal the answer

[@milotheprocat]

This was great! At first I guessed it was a possum because we have a lot that roam around where I live, but I didn’t wanna get my hopes up and I changed my guess to a cyote lol. This was very informative and fun :o (def hoping to see some cool skulls in the future!) 🧡

[@PGbanana]

I got it right.I knew it looked like one of them

[@inigobaudoin888]

Por dios como disfruto todo esto,ni se te ocurra parar

[@kobaltocr6927]

Love it love it please more of this💚 Greetings from Costa Rica

[@氣Pluh]

i never knew it was the skull of a tiny rat

[@lelduck6388]

A story better then modern marvel movies (not that that’s a high bar to clear), really kept me on my toes!

[@TopGreaser]

I knew it was a possum

[@alifeoncechris]

Straight up guess got it from the start. Love these videos.

[@thinker-nn9sn]

i really love the step by step process in identifying the skull.🤓thank you.

[@brendanmings8457]

Guess was Tasmanian Devil… I rode that one out until the final minute or so 😅

[@elrohirshouldercheaptrick9452]

This channel is just one ADHD person, hyperfixated on taxonomy ansd bones and I'm absolutely here for it

[@something.1]

Fantastic video, very informative and funny. Appreciate Your work and knowledge.

[@Aemirys]

I'd love to see more episodes just like this one! So interesting and informative!

[@garethwevell5765]

i am gonna say tasmanian devil but im not sure

[@garethwevell5765]

i fell like its very wrong tho

[@Conski201]

The second I seen all those teeth I new it was a possum, I stuck to my guns all the way through 😂 fun video, thanks.

[@trippwhitener9498]

Ridge on top back of the skull tipped it for me as soon as I saw it. Watched to the end and sure enough, possum.

[@Lunayy-chan]

More like this! Soooo interesting! Even when going through kinda the same steps for each skull (or other body part.) Think of baumgartner restauration for paintings or lockpicking lawyer for locks -> each video kinda the same process, still super duper entertaining!

[@YoungTzzyP420]

Dude love the vids keep them coming longer the better!!!

[@kassarawolf4418]

Knew from the thumbnail. I recently found a new skull that took me hours to identify. Eventually figured out it was an opossum. After so long staring at my opossum, I immediately knew what that was, lol.

[@LoonyDoll]

actually clicked through because i thought I recognized it.. spent 10 minutes wondering how I was so far off

[@Its_Lukaa]

Science is so cool!!!!!

[@MrAgentEcho]

I was initially guessing raccoon because of its size. When you said marsupial I knew what it was.

[@syrathdouglas1244]

I saw the number of teeth and went “possum, those little wood cats got like 50 chompers.”

[@chellyberry4434]

at first i was like be a cat then you said marsupials and i was like oh like a possum and you said what species i didnt know virginia possum were the only type. super informative video!

[@Megadextrious]

This is the first time I got it before the reveal!!!! I love possums!!! My thought process was thus: “Doggo? Doggy? No….. Oohh it’s a marsupial! OH ITS NORTH AMERICAN!?”

[@kaitlyndaenzer9799]

I guessed thylacine and got really excited at the marsupial bit. But when he said it's from north America I was like "it's an effing possum 😑"

[@ilyaszaim6494]

This channel is going to be really helpfull when i become a biologist

[@nikhilas9432]

i am very proud to have understood and guessed that it was a mammal before watching the rest of the video

[@bewareofsasquatch]

Some how I good at guessing what it might of looked like. The second I saw it I thought of something that looked like a rat or opossum. I watched the entire video and had me for awhile that it might be a dog. Than he said marsupial and than I knew what “rat” looking thing I was thinking. Love this channel.

[@eviltricster8090]

Figuring out what that was, was easier than I thought it'd be. There's only a few animals with heads that size after all. The overhead view helped confirm my guess. My guess is an opossum. 00:59 into video

[@Mo_Thecat]

The thumbnail: Can you name this skull? Me: fred.

[@redneckchemistry]

Haha, I instantly knew this one. I have a possum skull on a shelf in my bedroom

[@mygirldarby]

It has an "o" at the beginning. A "possum" without the "o" is a different animal, ironically found in Australia, and it too is a marsupial.

[@alfandosavant4639]

Holy F! Once i saw the skull, i believed it'd be like, wolf, coyote, fox, you know a carnivore with long jaw; the other spectrum with short jaw is cat-like animals. Must admit, that was one hell of a journey, i enjoyed it 😂😂

[@remyanthonysz7029]

Love your videos man. I want to do something like this when im older, what did you study to get into this stuff??

[@redtrinitygirl]

guessed it right away as I had a pet one lol! they have a lot of teeth!! they grind up their food into tiny bites..

[@booskie4316]

I misidentified it as a fox. I have never considered a possum's skull looking so similar to a canine's. I've always associated them with rodents and assumed they would have more of that skull structure.

[@basement-dweller76]

Oh for sure. That's Tyrel!

[@jaschabull2365]

Kept thinking Tasmanian devil due to the sharp canines. Guess I forgot how pointy opossums' teeth can be.

[@MegaGamer-dm6dd]

I was so proud of myself for guessing it was a marsupial when he said it wasn't placental lmao

[@paulinarapicka]

My thoughts: First: clouded leopard Second: Tasmanian devil Third: the Virginia opossum :DDD

[@KarachoBolzen]

Don't know anything about bone ID, and have never seen a possum in the flesh before, but by jove I saw the thing and immediately went "yeah that's a possum for sure" Don't know how i knew either, i think it's the combination of general size + long snout + large canines + obviously mammalian. I just imagined what it'd look like with meat on and yeah

[@CirylDrawsStuff]

My shock when we realized it was a marsupial… it felt like a twist in a movie 😂 I’m binging every video on this channel right now and wondering why it doesn’t have waaaay more followers

[@tonykun8370]

My first guess was a fox because of the skull and carnivore shape then it went immediately to a possum once you mentioned marsupial

[@axel_axolotl9821]

Got it from the thumbnail! Ive drawn a few of possum skulls so i kind of have to know what they look like lol

[@tariver1693]

As a European I always thought that marsupials live only in Australia, was surprised to know that they live in the Americas too. It somehow stuck in my mind that marsupials are inferior compared to placental mammals and thus were competed out everywhere but isolated Australia.

[@itsmealec]

as soon as I saw it i knew it was a possum! a pretty big possum too. the bottom teeth stuck out to me.

[@foobman]

I happened to see some (alive) possum videos a few weeks back, so I guessed this one within seconds. Beginner's luck no doubt, but now that makes me curious what else I could recognise in your other videos.

[@SquirrelDarling1]

Knew what it was the second I saw it. You could instantly tell by the beady little eyes.

[@1TakoyakiStore]

Wow I actually got it right although for a hot minute you had me thinking it was a thylacine skull.

[@Cooliostuff]

I guessed Tasmanian devil from first glance, close enough xD

[@horvathbenedek3596]

OK, I'm about halfway through... here's my guess. Molars are too small to be full carnivore, probably omnivore. Head is long and triangular, so that means not badger. The massive sagittal crest is characteristic of possums, so probably that.

[@rockdealer1]

Gripping stuff mate! Thank you!!

[@salamlawrence9658]

My guess was something in the mustelidae family or a Tasmanian Devil. Got at least close with the marsupial part.

[@thiagofarianogueira4636]

My first guess was a Tasmanian Wolf, not sure how close I was but I will rule it as "close enough"

[@lucasshiroma5248]

Yes, may I call him Jeff?

[@DES.REVER.DESIGNS]

When you said marsupial I thought Thylacine or Tasmanian devil... totally forgot about the only kind of marsupial that live near me

[@colinmoore7460]

Oh look, it's Fred!

[@jimstoesz3878]

And here I thought it was a fish...

[@joshmovingofficial]

I had no idea possum canines were so thick and long!!! I had coyote in mind!!!

[@KHolt22]

HAHA! I was thinking possum from the get-go just based on the skull shape and size. Looked sorta rat-like but too large for your average rat.

[@aleksitjvladica.]

Okay, that's it, you are breaking it down so much, I will lose My intelligence watching this.

[@jamesleia8669]

Dang it!! I thought it was a racoon!

[@ma3allim23]

Well it has one big jaw bone so it’s a mammal and it has canine teeth so it could be something like weasel and it’s head is t small to be a big one like a bear

[@andrewkinslow8725]

Name the skull? Easy-peasy. “Bob”. What do I win?

[@jumpyspiderlady8454]

I guessed right from the thumbnail! You threw me off a bit when you said it was probably a carnivore and not an omnivore though. Opossums will eat anything.

[@juiceoverflow]

im sure that knowing so much about organic structures and how they correlate to function you can see how animals are just living machines, right?

[@twilightraven1232]

From first glance I guessed possum!

[@drdawkins8549]

The best chanel ever

[@osmiltonneto1162]

As soon as you said that there’s only one marsupial that’s native to the USA are you immediately knew that it was a Virginia possum

[@cachalotreal]

I instantly thought opossum skull after looking at the thumbnail

[@dorianptero3255]

It's a opossum

[@metademetra]

See I was thinking a mustalid this whole time.

[@joelaperez4835]

Yoo let’s go I guessed possum at the 6:36 min mark when i saw the shape of the top of the fox skull. I knew mammal right away though.

[@OddAnimalSpecimens]

Big Brain Moves

[@DilPickleDino]

I got it right! I guessed either a fox or a possum 🙂

[@Thiriously]

I would have NEVER guessed opossum, completely forgot they have canine teeth XDDD

[@shiver_me_timber3634]

Can you do more videos of the odd animal specimens where you compare other skulls to them and move around the building

[@Roxel_therian]

"Ya think its a bird? "