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In this video we are going to talk about the importance of skull identification.

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Being able to ID animal skulls is a great skill to have as a nature enthusiast.
Of course we want to be able to correctly identify the animal.
But, there is so much that a skull can tell us about the animal. Like if an animal is a predator or prey! Remember, a predator is an organism that eats another organism. Prey is the organism a predator eats.
Ok, so how do the skulls tells us that story?! Well, the first thing I do when I see a skull is look at the eye sockets and the teeth. The eye sockets (orbits) are where the eyes used to be.
But first think about where your eyes are! What direction do your eyes face? If you take take your fingers and put them next to your eyes, you can see that your eyes face forward.
So we are able to see very clearly in front of us, we can see at a pretty far distance, and we have pretty good depth perception, meaning we can tell how far something is. We have two eyes, so using both eyes gives us the most power! This is called Binoculars vision. Bi meaning "two: and ocular having to do with eyes or vision.
If we closed one eye, and only used one eye to see, we would have monocular vision. Mono meaning "one" and ocular having to do with eyes or vision.
But take this whitetailed deer skull... do the eyes face forward like our eyes? Nope, they face more towards the side. This gives the deer a much wider field of view than us humans. Why? Because a deer needs to be able to see if a predator is sneaking behind it. This wider range of vision is called Peripheral Vision. Peri meaning "around" like the work perimeter!
Now it is time for a cheesy, but effective rhyme. Remember this...
Eyes on the side, time to hide...
Eyes facing front, time to hunt...
The hiders are most likely the prey. The hunters are most likely the predators
Now we can take our investigation a bit further by looking at the teeth! We have canines, which are cone like teeth used for holding prey down, piercing, and tearing. If you take your tongue and touch the pointy tooth, that's the canine. We have Incisors, which are in front of the canine, and incisors are used to cut and gnaw. We Have PreMolars, which are right behind the canines and are used to tear and grind up food, Pre meaning before. Then lastly we have the Molars, which are the very back, flatter teeth used for breaking and grinding.
Now that you know the names of the teeth, we can go a step further and talk about which animals are carnivores, omnivores, or herbivores. A Carnivore is an animal that mostly eats meat. Carne means meat, it even sounds like Carne (Spanish for meat) and vore means members of a group. Think coyotes, bobcats, and red fox... An Omnivore is an animal that eats both meat and plants... Omni meaning "all." So an animal that eats all things... So think of squirrels, pigs, opossum, skunks, and even humans! Wait, wait, wait... So we squirrels, pigs, possums, and skunks eat other animals?
Yes! Do not forget that insects are considered meat. Really anything that is not a plant and that does not produce its own food is considered an animal that has "meat." Ok, so lastly we have herbivore, which means an animal that eats plants. Herba meaning plant. So think deer, cow, horse, tortoise, ducks...
Now! Carnivores have all four types of teeth! Canines, incisors, premolars, and molars. Most of the teeth are pretty sharp too! Omnivores also have all four types of teeth! Canines, incisors, premolars, and molars. But the difference is that the the molars are not as sharp as the molars on a carnivore! Herbivores have pretty flat teeth... they are usually missing canines and there is usually a large gap between the incisors and the molars.
Now what? Well in order to correctly ID an animal skull. We have to think like a scientist. To do that we are going to form a hypothesis, or an educated guess... If this skull has x,y, and z then it must be a "blank." But what else can we look at when trying to ID a skull Well, look at the size... is it a small skulls, a large skull, a huge skull?! What about the shape? Is it a long skull? Is a wide skull? How can we tell if it is in the rodent family? What about the Canide family? Is it a reptile? Look for the ear canals, the auditory bullae the foraman magnum, the rostrum, the mandible, the zygomatic arch, sagital crest! WHOA! What the heck are you talking about?! What I am trying to say is that you need to look at every part of the skull, take notes, and notice how everything is working together. Remember, every part of the skull has a job! Every part tells you a story about the animal.

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