Comments on: Mysterious Primate Skull Unearthed in Texas

By: kittenz

kittenz — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:43:56 +0000

Yes m_m,

More photos would be good. Because of the smallish size of the skull, I suppose it could be a macaque rather than a baboon, but the canines are much more like those of a baboon so I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. The grooved canines are a feature of old world monkeys, including baboons and macaques, but the groove is particularly pronounced in baboon species.

By: Paul78

Paul78 — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:20:31 +0000

I've just come across this site that sells casts of primate skulls and gives measurements. I still don't think it's baboon and the macaque skull is roughly the right size but has those ridges along the nose. I still think it is either a juvenile chimp or other ape.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:08:17 +0000

Kittenz- I see what you mean about the groove in the teeth. Compelling, and very observant of you. I had to squint my eyes and stare at the photos to see what you mean, but a groove is definitely present on at least one of the teeth on the found skull. I am not so sure, however, that this groove is an innate feature of the tooth or if it is the result of decay, fracture, or some other outside influence. This skull is not exactly in pristine condition, making it harder to determine what the cause of the perceived groove might be.

I also still think the orbital ridges and brow seem very prominent in comparison to baboon skulls.

Additional photos could help work this out a little more efficiently. I’m getting a headache trying to glean details out of the ones provided here.

By: Paul78

Paul78 — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:07:56 +0000

But the muzzle is to stout for a Baboon, which is more elongated, plus according to this the canines are 1 inch in length, Baboons on average are 2 1/2 inches in length and Gorillas are 2 inches, i can’t find Chimp sizes at the moment, but looking at the size of the skull and canines this is either juvenile ape or a smalled one we ahve not thought of. I still think it is not Baboon.

Occasionally in UK Archaeology we come across Primate remains in Britain indicating that they have been exported for a very long time and looking at this skull without knowing the soil type it was it was in it appears quite old.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:43:53 +0000

“Some indication of the skull’s size would be helpful.” …

The article states:

It’s six inches from front to back and two inches wide.

Most of the teeth, including one-inch canines, are intact.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:30:03 +0000

Although it’s difficult to be sure from these two photos, there appears to be a lengthwise groove in the upper canines on the found skull. That’s characteristic of baboons but not of apes.

By: Imaginary Friend

Imaginary Friend — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:40:22 +0000

Whatever it is, it sure would be nice if they could hold onto it. Things like this tend to “disappear” into the vaults of time or be described away as “an escapee from a circus.” I wish they had searched for the complete skeleton, but that’s clearly too much to expect of rational people who come across a giant skull in the ground, which should be surprising to people but never to those who dig these things up. At least they didn’t chuck it by the side of the road and good for them. However, don’t hold your breath while they extract the DNA. Even if some primate expert does, the results will probably say something like “a close match” to some other large primate such as a gorilla, or be “inconclusive.” Sorry to sound negative, but we can just turn over the hourglass and wait for the predictable responses.

By: Paul78

Paul78 — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:40:35 +0000

Granted this skull has a lot of external decay to it which makes it hard to judge, but the overall shape is still there and it's the slope between the nose that says Gorilla to me as it is to sloped for a Chimp and not long enough for a Baboon. In these pictures of a female Gorilla without lower jaw, a male skull and the last not sure what sex, but i can see the similarities to the skull, As you said this could even be an extincted ape. But i don't think this is Bigfoot as to me it would have to look similar to a Gigantopithecus skull.

By: Dj Plasmic Nebula

Dj Plasmic Nebula — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:41:20 +0000

loren, i looked up Gorilla Skull and it doesn’t look like this one.. none of these skulls look like this one.. this is the only skull with the upper mouth not slanted downward.

it can be baboon, but a unknown variety of baboon. the teeth doesn’t match with any of these skulls here also.

they should check the fossil record of extinct primates to see if the skull matches those.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:55:57 +0000

I can definitely see baboon here, but I am not entirely convinced. The baboon dentition and nasal cavity placement seems to match with the mystery skull, but the orangutan dentition seems to match fairly well too. The one thing that I notice is the prominence of the orbital ridges and brow, and the way they flare out a lot more than those of baboon skulls. The found skull resembles the other ape skulls more in this respect. I’m wondering if this is due to individual difference in this particular baboon, or if the location of the nasal cavity is not so different from the ape skulls that it could be considered an individual difference of an ape.

There are only two fairly small and not particularly great quality photos to work with here, with no real size comparison, so it’s hard to be sure. I’d like some better photos to be honest.