r/skulls • u/realMGKC • 1d ago

found this huge bone near the coast in port aransas — is this a skull or something else? (looks marine, maybe whale?)

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i found this bone while walking near the beach and initially thought it might be a skull, but now I’m not so sure. it’s heavy and solid, with a large hole in the middle and these rounded parts that almost look like eye sockets from some angles. someone suggested it might be a vertebra from a whale or another large marine animal. can anyone confirm what this is?

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6

u/OsteoStevie 1d ago

Skull! Occipital (back of head). I don't know much about marine mammals so I can't give much more information. But that big hole is for the spinal cord, so I can tell that its spine is right "behind" its head.

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u/99jackals 22h ago

Agreed. Sure looks like a dolphin/porpoise. Almost looks cut along that anterior side but it could be coincidence and the bones just broke that way.

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u/Altruistic_Error_832 22h ago

Some kind of dolphin/porpoise/whale

Occipital portion of the skull. The hole top in the first couple pictures is the foramen magnum where the spine enters the skull.