I have a rant to do, and an anatomy vignette or two, but before I do, here is a puzzleroo: It’s a reconstructed CT scan. I’ve digitally cut off the head to be tricksy. Come on man, I ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie! What is this beastie? Not hard in the leasty.
(your answer needs neither rhyme nor Shakespearean meter, but do take the time and provide the Latin binomen for reala– don’t just call it Peter or Sheila!)
Stomach-Churning Rating: 1/10. It won’t bite.
Difficulty: decapitation.
Without the skull this is a tricky one! It’s clearly something of a reasonable size for the bones to have those fairly robust proportions, but not something really big – probably not a gekko (unless it’s Rhacodactylus leachianus, which I doubt for no good reason…). The relatively short tail rules out a lot of varanids and iguanas, the toes rule out most lacertids. There are well-developed osteoderms in the neck and along the back, so that makes me think it might be a Beaded Lizard, Heloderma horridum.
Lizards are not a group I’m very familiar with, so that’s probably way off!
I fear I took the instruction “your answer needs neither rhyme nor Shakespearean meter” a bit too literally.
I can guess Heloderma suspectum.
Suspectum for lack of an expectum
for a given species of Heloderma.
I base this solely on the basis
of narrow ribcage, short processes
or ribs. Yet tail is short, and osteodera.
Alternately, would I consider
Phrynosoma-like lizerd,
but they are squater, broader, than Heloderma.
*That should be “osteodermata.” I think I was trying to be too rhyme-y with this.
Hi – 1st thoughts were that it is a type of lizard judging by the pelvis and pectoral girdles and limbs. There are so many ribs! I’m sticking to lizard, possibly a type of skink or tegu since the body is quite long and tail not overly long as in iguana. I would say a ground dwelling lizard too since the limbs don’t look overly specialised for climbing. So – skink I reckon. Can’t get closer than that with a Latin name.
Welcome, Nicola! Thanks for joining in the fun. The answer will be posted in a day or so.
Just a guess, not based on much analysis Amblyrhynchus cristatus
I’m wondering what to think,
this headless lizard could drive me to drink!
A Gila Monster is likely
but I’ll say Tiliqua scincoides
Common name: the Blue-Tounged Skink
Shinisaurus crocodilurus
I want to say Tiliqua
But am going with tequila
In case that’s too obliqua
I’m saying it’s a Gila
Monster (therefore ‘terrific’)
John said to be “specific”
Heloderma suspectum
Or I’m a dingo’s rectum
Osteoderms and a tail that stubby point pretty strongly to Heloderma. I’m going to go with suspectum because a) they’re more common in the pet trade and b) they’re much prettier than horridum.
Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) an animal so famous it has it’s own song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxA0QVGVEJw
Their deep fried tails taste much greater. It’s a headless American Alligator!
D’oh! Forgot the taxonomy! Just don’t know what went on in me. Tried it again with Latin thrown in. Now off to get a lobotomy!
It’s Alligator mississippiensis. A bit hard to tell ‘cuz it’s headless. Gee, look at those scutes! The scan’s kinda cute. Now that it’s been rendered dreadless.
My first guess was Heloderma suspectum, one of my favorite “accessory” species…. but now I’m intrigued with the gator guess…
OK, time to draw this to a close. It was not a crocodylian of any kind- the 5-fingered hand, short tail, and lack of armour (scutes) along the posterior region, as well as lack of mobile pubes, are the clues there. Axolotl would lack the scutes altogether; also it would have shorter ribs and smaller pectoral/pelvic girdles and a longer tail. So we are left with lepidosaurs, and it’s not a tuatara so it’s a lizard. But what kind of lizard? A very, very subtle clue was above in the “Peter or Sheila” bit at the end of my intro. I should have added something like “punster” to rhyme with another part of the animal’s common name, but I thought this one was sure to be figured out by someone even without the clues.
It is indeed a Gila monster, Heloderma suspectum. One of the first binomial Linnean names that I learned as a kid, too! I was a big fan, but never saw a live one even in a zoo until my teens or so (Wisconsin is curiously lacking in wild Gila monsters or Beaded lizards; must be the predatory badgers keeping them out, haha).The short, blunt head would have been too much of a giveaway– but Digimorph, as it well should, has a great image of one: http://digimorph.org/specimens/Heloderma_suspectum/adult/
This was a specimen from Susan Evans’s collection of frozen herps that we CT scanned a while ago.
Well done everyone! You get points for trying, or coming close, or getting it right but not first. I’m glad it wasn’t 100% success rate or it would have been too easy! Scoreboard is now being updated… https://whatsinjohnsfreezer.com/2013/05/02/scoreboard/ and several people are creeping closer and closer to Mark Robinson, ready to deal a venomous bite and take the lead, but he keeps at it doesn’t he?
Stay tuned, I have a photo-heavy blog post cocked and loaded for tomorrow!