Wolf Skull: Grendel
You have to look closely, but this skull is, indeed, deformed.
This interesting boy came to me from the same gentleman who prepared Thane. If you look very carefully, you will see that his face is bent. Follow the centerline from the sagittal crest at the back of the head to the tip of the rostrum -- his nose. Note that it is curved ever so slightly.
Note, too, that the infraorbital foramina (the holes you can see here between the eyesocket and the nose) are not on a straight line with one another.
Believe me, we have not yet begun to explore this skull's lopsidedness. By all means, let us proceed!
Follow the line between the nasal bones. See how it's curved? You can get a better look at the Flickr page, where I've used notes to draw lines.
Again, note that the infraorbital foramina are misaligned, and also note that the left eyesocket (his left, on our right) sits lower than the other.
Here you see something I don't see often in animal skulls, but see often in humans: tooth crowding. The teeth are not perfectly straight, either.
Also, check out how the bony groove up in the nasal cavity veers way off center.
The underside really shows off his deformity. Note how the whole thing curves torward the left side of the picture. The back molar on the left is higher than on the right, and the canine teeth are displaced by more than half.
Note, too, the deformity of the pterygoid region. That is the area where the hard bone of the palate stops and drops off. Follow the palate up to where it falls off in that little "w" shape, above which are two flanges of bone flanking a channel that leads back down into the skull. That is the pterygoid area. Note that one side of the "w" is lower than the other.
The cheekbones are not even, either.
Again, check out the Flickr page for notes.
A comparison between the bent skull and Grond Grimfang, the old alpha I showed you here. Just look at the differences between the well-aligned straight skull on the right with the misaligned skull on the left. In larger views, you can compare tooth wear. Grendel, here, was from a significantly younger animal, probably half the age of the other wolf.
Look at that canine tooth on the right side of the picture, and how out of whack it is!
The bent skull's jaw is on the left, with the straight jaw of the large male on the right. Compare that. I mean, wow.
I have no idea what could've caused such a deformity but it was very old, and if it was due to trauma, it left no marks. It must have happened as a puppy, perhaps a simple birth defect present in the womb.
I'm really happy with this guy. I sort of think of him as Thane's brother, since they were prepared by the same person. I can't help but wonder what he would've looked like. I don't think it would've been that noticeable because wolves have so much fur, and a lot of this skull's lopsidedness is in the teeth, but there would've been something very subtly "off" about his face.
There are very few perfect skulls out there. Most have a missing tooth or two, chipped canines, a healed break, or even, rarely, deformities like this. As much as I love "perfect" skulls, these little differences give them character.
He doesn't have a name yet. You all helped me name Grond (Thanks, crows_warning and tripleransom!), so I'm taking suggestions. It's Grendel. Thanks to foxipher for smacking me with the obvious.
For the new, a note about bones and ethics.
This interesting boy came to me from the same gentleman who prepared Thane. If you look very carefully, you will see that his face is bent. Follow the centerline from the sagittal crest at the back of the head to the tip of the rostrum -- his nose. Note that it is curved ever so slightly.
Note, too, that the infraorbital foramina (the holes you can see here between the eyesocket and the nose) are not on a straight line with one another.
Believe me, we have not yet begun to explore this skull's lopsidedness. By all means, let us proceed!
Follow the line between the nasal bones. See how it's curved? You can get a better look at the Flickr page, where I've used notes to draw lines.
Again, note that the infraorbital foramina are misaligned, and also note that the left eyesocket (his left, on our right) sits lower than the other.
Here you see something I don't see often in animal skulls, but see often in humans: tooth crowding. The teeth are not perfectly straight, either.
Also, check out how the bony groove up in the nasal cavity veers way off center.
The underside really shows off his deformity. Note how the whole thing curves torward the left side of the picture. The back molar on the left is higher than on the right, and the canine teeth are displaced by more than half.
Note, too, the deformity of the pterygoid region. That is the area where the hard bone of the palate stops and drops off. Follow the palate up to where it falls off in that little "w" shape, above which are two flanges of bone flanking a channel that leads back down into the skull. That is the pterygoid area. Note that one side of the "w" is lower than the other.
The cheekbones are not even, either.
Again, check out the Flickr page for notes.
A comparison between the bent skull and Grond Grimfang, the old alpha I showed you here. Just look at the differences between the well-aligned straight skull on the right with the misaligned skull on the left. In larger views, you can compare tooth wear. Grendel, here, was from a significantly younger animal, probably half the age of the other wolf.
Look at that canine tooth on the right side of the picture, and how out of whack it is!
The bent skull's jaw is on the left, with the straight jaw of the large male on the right. Compare that. I mean, wow.
I have no idea what could've caused such a deformity but it was very old, and if it was due to trauma, it left no marks. It must have happened as a puppy, perhaps a simple birth defect present in the womb.
I'm really happy with this guy. I sort of think of him as Thane's brother, since they were prepared by the same person. I can't help but wonder what he would've looked like. I don't think it would've been that noticeable because wolves have so much fur, and a lot of this skull's lopsidedness is in the teeth, but there would've been something very subtly "off" about his face.
There are very few perfect skulls out there. Most have a missing tooth or two, chipped canines, a healed break, or even, rarely, deformities like this. As much as I love "perfect" skulls, these little differences give them character.
He doesn't have a name yet. You all helped me name Grond (Thanks, crows_warning and tripleransom!), so I'm taking suggestions. It's Grendel. Thanks to foxipher for smacking me with the obvious.
For the new, a note about bones and ethics.