Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Primate Skull Found In Texas, But Which Primate?

A plumber from North Dallas, Texas found a primate skull while working on construction project outside of a school. The skull was found buried about five feet underground. Measuring six inches from front to back and two inches wide, most of its teeth are still intact including two one-inch canines. “We all know it’s a primate,” said David Evans, 25, of Alvarado. “We just don’t know which kind.”



A noted anthropologist for the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office, Dr. Dana Austin, viewed photographs of the skull and said it was definitely an “old-world primate,” possibly a monkey or chimp.

Read the article from NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, It's a Skull, But What Kind?

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcdfw.com/video



In an effort to do my professors justice (yes ... Dr. Larissa Swedell and Dr. Sara Stinson), I am going to attempt to identify said skull. But before that ... am I the only one that cringes every time some says "Old World primates"? It's Old World monkeys! Monkeys!

OK ... from the video and pictures, it seems to either be a chimp or a baboon. What differentiate a chimp and a baboon based on dental morphology is that chimps have Y-5 molars pattern while baboons have a bilophodont pattern. Judging from the video, around 0:15 mins. it seems that the upper molars have a bilophodont teeth. The sagittal crest also seem to connect to the brow ridge like an upside down Y. My guess is that this skull belongs to a baboon, a hamadryas baboon to be exact. Because canine size is sexually dimorphic in hamadryas baboon, this skull probably belongs to a male.

What do you think?

4 comments:

zacharoo said...

I don't have a lot of experience with things beyond other than hominoids, but I think it definitely looks papionin. Something about the face calls mangabeys to mind, but I could be (and probably am) wrong. So anyway, I'll put my money on mangabey. What's a better question is why someone would bury a baboon cranium behind a school?

Oh, and congratulations on graduating with honors--keep up the hard work!

Raymond Vagell said...

Thanks Zacharoo!

Unknown said...

Try, New World Ape. Because we have them here in the United States. Stories go back hundreds of years. And the stories of accounts are still coming in.
Only they get huge.

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