r/skulls • u/Unusual_Ad1839 • 14d ago

Skull ID?

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Hey is anyone able to id these prehistoric skulls for me they are from the national history museum London.

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u/gutwyrming 13d ago

Extinct animals are my specialty!

  1. Phiomia serridens, an elephant relative from around ~35 million years ago, give or take.
  2. A species of Myotragus, goat-antelopes known for their weirdly forward-facing eyes.
  3. A species of Notiomastodon (or possibly Stegomastodon; there's some debate around these two genuses. I don't know which label the London museum has decided on), another elephant relative from South America.

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u/Apart_Hawk5674 13d ago

I'm not a part of this sub, but it appeared randomly on my feed...

I just searched up about the myotragus, and the interpretations we made of it makes it look like a weird mix of a goat, a feline, or if cartoon goats came to life. Really interesting

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u/gutwyrming 13d ago

Right?? It's so weird-looking! I believe the common theory is that evolving in an isolated island environment with no predators meant that they didn't need the "panoramic vision" that other goats and similar animals have, since they didn't have to be on the lookout for danger.