I don't care if you know what it is, it's still weird

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What the hell is it then? I know, I know, dead easy.

More like this

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Since getting back from Morocco I've had no time to do anything for the blog, dammit. Too much to catch up on. But stuff is coming. Meanwhile, here are some interesting pictures. They depict the same sort of creature, but what is it? I know, I know: easy. Next: to the Sahara and back! Camels,…
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WTF.

A golden mole from very close up?

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 22 Sep 2008 #permalink

Its a tamandua

By adam Yates (not verified) on 22 Sep 2008 #permalink

giant sloth?

A Pangolin of some description? Looks anteater-ish...

By DunkTheBiscuit (not verified) on 22 Sep 2008 #permalink

Some kind of giant armadillo? But (seemingly) not enough toes for a glyptodon. But they didn't have scaly legs either did they?

Ummm ... crud. This is supposed to be easy? (The filename doesn't give a hint, either.)

It's not for walking on. I don't think it's a flipper or a flightless bird's limb. So it looks like a burrowing animal. I don't know of any reptiles or dinosaurs with burrowing limbs that specialized, so I'm going to have to go with mammal.

My guess: mole, and the scaly limb shown behind it is a red herring. I found a picture of a "borrowing mole" (sic) that had forearms like this.

By William Miller (not verified) on 22 Sep 2008 #permalink

I'm also guessing armadillo. Most likely a giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus); less likely a naked-tailed armadillo (Cabassous sp.).

It is a mammal (forget the scaly background), and it's not a walrus or anything else aquatic.

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

Golden mole?

giant sloth or another type of giant mammal, like a chalicothere or i don't know

I think you're right Dartian; it looks like Priodontes. That has pretty huge claws, but I guess they're not preserved. (It is very scaly, so maybe the background isn't a red herring after all!)

By William Miller (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

I was just about to write that armadillos don't fit because they have to many digits and lack that crazy enlarged central claw. Nevertheless some googling shows that amongst armadillos, Priodontes really does have a manus like this. Well done Dartian.

By Adam Yates (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

I'm going to have to go with Priodontes as well. Those claws look to be much more representative of Dasypodidae than other possibilities that have been mentioned so far.

rhinogradentian
or ground sloth

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

Hank Paulson, when he takes the mask off.

It's not necessarily giant. Maybe the camera is really zoomed in?

Hey, no one's suggested ropen! Or gorgonopsian!

By William Miller (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

Its a man in an ape suit, I'm sure.

By David Tosics (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

I remember seeing this one, and the thing behind isn't a red herring, or even a red ropen!

By Mark Evans (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

Damn, Dartian already got it. Priodontes.

With an ulna like that, who needs... um...

Prize for finishing the sentence.

By Nathan Myers (not verified) on 23 Sep 2008 #permalink

Well, I wish I could say it's a Manis manus, but I agree it looks more like Priodontes.

Lets see, 4 toed and digit 2 is all claw w/ digit 4 reduced to a stub. It looks more reptilian or avian than mammilian but the bones are too robust for a bird so I am thinking theropod dinosaur and assume I see a radius and ulna.

Looking again I see another digit, a "thumb" making the long finger/toe the index and digit 3 a giant claw and digit 4 a large claw with digit 5 reduced. Still think it's a theropod.

Silly me. Xenarthra: armadillos, anteaters & sloths.
I knew it looked familiar. Giant armadillo.