Bones for Children

Looky what Ali found for me at the library!

It's a children's book about animal bones written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, and simply and appropriately titled Bones.

Elephant bones!

Skulls!

Run, human, RUN!

Well, my deer bone search was a bust, but I did stumble upon these itty bitty bones. I found a parietal bone, temporal bone, and three vertebrae. Unfortunately, my zooarchaeology texts are not readily accessible. Blast!

Deer Bone Scavenger Hunt

Today's find courtesy of Ali's eagle eyes is Odocoileus virginianus or the white-tailed deer. Thus far, Ali has found a humerus, vertebra, and articulated ulna and radius and I've found a mandible and fur clump. Tomorrow's goal is to find more of the skeleton, which will be difficult since scavengers have dispersed it.

The proximal epiphyses of the radius and humerus are still fusing and the teeth are still erupting, so this deer is maybe somewhere between 1 and 2 years old?

Gnaw marks from rodent activity.