Skull Mysteries
Jan 14, 2016 • 4:58 AM UTC
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courtbuon
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We were walking in the woods, thinking about the power this tiny gadget, the Foldscope, in our backpack gives us. From the unimaginable number of fascinating stories around us at any given time, how do we choose the best one?
And then it happened: the opportunity presented itself when Courtney almost tripped over a small, elongated skull. The white bone tissue contrasted with the fallen leaves, up until recently a carpet of color, now almost a grey-brown uniform layer of decaying matter. And there we had it! One skull, one animal, myriad mysteries.
While further inspection is needed to determine the intricacies of cause of death, and we are working with limited resources, we couldn’t resist tossing around potential ideas as to what caused the incredible cleanliness of the skull and the circumstances of its demise. Our first glance revealed nothing dramatic in terms of a struggle, but after examining the skull with the foldscope we found a surprising amount of damage on a smaller scale. It is impossible to determine the exact causality of this damage, but possibilities include: natural, abiotic processes, like weather, insect and rodent mastication, and natural decomposition. Since we cannot determine the age of the skull or the time of death, it is difficult to say which of these factors is the most likely, though it seems probable that all had an important role to play in the state of the skull we currently see.
While further inspection is needed to determine the intricacies of cause of death, and we are working with limited resources, we couldn’t resist tossing around potential ideas as to what caused the incredible cleanliness of the skull and the circumstances of its demise. Our first glance revealed nothing dramatic in terms of a struggle, but after examining the skull with the foldscope we found a surprising amount of damage on a smaller scale. It is impossible to determine the exact causality of this damage, but possibilities include: natural, abiotic processes, like weather, insect and rodent mastication, and natural decomposition. Since we cannot determine the age of the skull or the time of death, it is difficult to say which of these factors is the most likely, though it seems probable that all had an important role to play in the state of the skull we currently see.
It is a fascinating thought, to consider the myriad ways in which a skull like this might have gotten there. Little marks do not reveal enough to satisfy curiosity. What kind of creature is it? Omnivorous, from the looks of the teeth, but how can we be sure? Why are certain teeth missing, while others remain intact? How old was the creature when it died? What was the cause of death? Why was the skull, remarkably clean, all things considered, the only part of the body that was found? How many other types of organisms made use of the decaying skull before we happened across it?
Most of these questions we lack the ability to answer; we would need time, and analysis, and more advanced research techniques. And even if we could somehow manage to find, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the answers to each of these questions, would that be enough to satiate the wonder? Knowing the type of creature it is might give us something regarding class and phylum and taxonomy, but it will not allow us to watch the creature sniffing along the dark shadows of the forest, or guarding its young in the deep warmth of a nest. There will always be something missing, from any investigation, and it is this lack of complete knowledge and, more than knowledge, understanding, that encourages deeper investigation, further study, more intense research.
Most of these questions we lack the ability to answer; we would need time, and analysis, and more advanced research techniques. And even if we could somehow manage to find, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the answers to each of these questions, would that be enough to satiate the wonder? Knowing the type of creature it is might give us something regarding class and phylum and taxonomy, but it will not allow us to watch the creature sniffing along the dark shadows of the forest, or guarding its young in the deep warmth of a nest. There will always be something missing, from any investigation, and it is this lack of complete knowledge and, more than knowledge, understanding, that encourages deeper investigation, further study, more intense research.
Curiosity is never fully satiated.
We conducted this project as part of Professor Pringle’s EEB321 class at Princeton University.
Anastas Belev,Courtney Buoncore, Mariana Wu
We conducted this project as part of Professor Pringle’s EEB321 class at Princeton University.
Anastas Belev,Courtney Buoncore, Mariana Wu
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