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  3. Vertebrate Skulls

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Bighorn sheep, anterior view of different specimen

Vertebrate Skulls

Body

In this gallery, we highlight a few of the vertebrate skulls in the museum's comparative biological collections. The vertebrate skull has changed significantly over time, but alligators like the one pictured here are “living fossils” that have remained relatively unchanged from their first forms. The other skulls in this gallery are mammals. Mammals derive from a branch that split from the ancestors of reptiles and birds in the Permian, over 250 million years ago. All groups of mammals have two tiny inner-ear bones, the malleus and incus (hammer and anvil). These two bones evolved from bones found in the jaws of reptiles and birds, but are now used for hearing in mammals. The platypus is a monotreme, a mammal that still lays eggs, just as our Permian ancestors did. The remainder of the mammals in the gallery are placentals, growing their babies inside the mother.

The animals with horns and antlers in this gallery are ruminant artiodactyls, the group of cloven-hoofed animals that chew cud to aid their digestion. Ruminants include four well-known groups with headgear: bovids (cows, goats, antelope), cervids (deer, moose, elk), antilocaprids (pronghorn antelope), and giraffids (giraffe and okapi). Edward Davis is currently studying the origin of ruminant headgear. Each of the four groups has its own distinct kind of headgear: Bovids have true horns, made of bone horncores covered by skin and 'horn' made of keratin, the same protein as hair, hooves, and fingernails. Pronghorns have a horn that has evolved independently from bovid horns, with an inner bone horncore and an outer layer which they shed and regrow each year. Deer have antlers, which are dead bone that is shed and regrown each year. Deer have stem cells in the knobs (pedicles) at the base of their antlers and from them grow the new antlers each year. Images © Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

Image Gallery
Image
Alligator, dorsal view

Alligator Alligator mississippiensis dorsal view

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
dorsal view

Image
Alligator, right lateral view

Alligator Alligator mississippiensis right lateral view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
right lateral view 

Image
Black bear, Ursus americanus

Black bear Ursus americanus 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Black bear
Ursus americanus 

Image
Blacktail deer skull with damaged antlers

Blacktail deer Odocoileus hemionus damaged antlers

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Blacktail deer
Odocoileus hemionus
damaged antlers

Image
Bighorn sheep, right anterio-lateral view

Bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis right anterio-lateral view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Bighorn sheep
Ovis canadensis
right anterio-lateral view 

Image
Pronghorn, left lateral view

Pronghorn Antilocapra americana left lateral view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Pronghorn
Antilocapra americana
left lateral view 

Image
Bighorn sheep, anterior view of different specimen

Bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis anterior view of different specimen 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Bighorn sheep
Ovis canadensis
anterior view of different specimen 

Image
Gnu, anterior view

Gnu Connochaetes sp. anterior view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Gnu
Connochaetes sp.
anterior view 

Image
Cow skull

Cow Bos taurus Right anterio-lateral view

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Cow
Bos taurus
Right anterio-lateral view

Image
Pronghorn, right anterio-lateral view

Pronghorn Antilocapra americana right anterio-lateral view

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Pronghorn
Antilocapra americana
right anterio-lateral view

Image
Bighorn sheep, right lateral view

Bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis right lateral view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Bighorn sheep
Ovis canadensis
right lateral view 

Image
Blacktail deer Odocoileus hemionus

Blacktail deer Odocoileus hemionus

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Blacktail deer
Odocoileus hemionus

Image
African lion skull

African lion Panthera leo 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

African lion
Panthera leo 

Image
Sea otter, right lateral view

Sea otter Enhydra lutris right lateral view

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Sea otter
Enhydra lutris
right lateral view

Image
Sea otter, dorsal view

Sea otter Enhydra lutris dorsal view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Sea otter
Enhydra lutris
dorsal view 

Image
Platypus, Oncorhinchus anatinus

Platypus Oncorhinchus anatinus

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Platypus
Oncorhinchus anatinus

Image
Harbor seal, right lateral view

Harbor seal Phoca vitulina right lateral view

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Harbor seal
Phoca vitulina
right lateral view

Image
Polar bear, dorsal view

Polar bear Ursus maritimus dorsal view   

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
dorsal view 
 

Image
Seal lion male, right lateral view

Seal lion male Zalophus californianus right lateral view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Seal lion male
Zalophus californianus
right lateral view 

Image
Seal lion male, dorsal view

Seal lion male Zalophus californianus dorsal view 

Gallery Caption (Only for Collections Gallery Images)

Seal lion male
Zalophus californianus
dorsal view 

Collections Galleries

Bird, snake, lizards, and fish, Yirrkalla, Arnhem Land 30.5" x 17.75", Cat. No. 6-36
Aboriginal Australian Bark Paintings
Goniatite detail, Muensteroceras oweni, Rockford, Indiana, Rockford Formation, Mississippian (Kinderhookian) - Specimen #P6372A
Ammonite Fossils
Cebus sp. Capuchin
University of Oregon Comparative Primate Collection
7-38
Tapa Cloth
Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus - 37.54 x 27.98 mm
Birds' Eggs
Navajo weaving
Navajo, Pueblo, and other Southwestern Weavings
See all collections galleries

Collections Access

The Museum encourages the use of its collections for research, educational, and artistic purposes, through loans, exhibits, tours, class visits, and hosting visiting researchers.

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