In abstentia…
Rodent jaws. Coin is an inch across.
Same, with the teeth pulled out. They come out rather easily. These were found amid the ruins of some owl pellets. Owls swallow prey whole and then spit up the gnarly bits.
Considering how clean these bones are, those are some serious digestive juices.
Mammal Monday
One response to “Mammal Monday”
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It makes some sense mechanically for the two long incisors to fit a little looser and reside in a deeper socket. Those fangs grow very quickly. Being tightly attached to their sockets would hinder the movement that requires. The deep, curved socket provides the strength needed and prevents rotation from any torque created during gnawing or slicing of the boxed or bagged foodstuffs in my kitchen as well as the holemaking through the wood, plaster and concrete in the walls of my building.
The rest of the teeth look like bicuspids similar to ours and, I presume, are used to grind food to a digestible size. I don’t see anything that looks like a molar, which means grinder, which we use for that purpose.
Interesting stuff the owl had no use for!

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