Jun 14, 2021
The lower jaws, atlas bone (middle), and hyoid bones of a large whitetail buck found in the Hudson River.
They’re fresh out of maceration (letting them sit in water so bacteria can eat away any flesh still on them). The dark color is likely bacteria, maybe some kind of algae, I’m not sure. It should come out after I put them in hydrogen peroxide for a while.
Hyoid bones (the small J shaped ones) are right around the base of the skull, but I never see them labeled in skeletal diagrams. I actually didn’t know they existed until I was removing this buck’s skull and felt them there. They weren’t connected to any other bones, just kinda floating in muscle & meat. They support the tongue & larynx.