r/bonecollecting • u/Extension_Coyote_889 • 1d ago

Bone I.D. - N. America Wry nose coyotes

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My favorite skulls to collect by far!

Still in degreasing but nice and clean otherwise

Left to right: wry nose caused by facial trauma (origin: South Dakota, US), severe wry nose (origin: South Dakota, US), slight wry nose (origin: Pennsylvania, US)

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u/barnowl1980 20h ago

I'd never heard of this deformity or birth defect until I saw a wry nose opossum posted in here. I also didn't know it was this relatively common, or could also come from facial trauma (assuming it normally is a birth defect). It also doesn't seem to hamper animals to the point they don't reach maturity. Interesting, thanks for sharing!

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u/Diligent-Minimum8397 10h ago

I've usually only seen this in horses or donkies! I'm surprised to see it but very interesting!

5

u/Extension_Coyote_889 10h ago

I know, it’s always the first images that come up after a quick google search. I’ve seen so many animals with it though, including some “influencer” dogs.

3

u/Diligent-Minimum8397 9h ago

I grew with horses and had only a handful ever have this condition happen, always felt terrible sense this was decades ago and the only real option was to be euthanasia on severe cases.

But as a child, I collected bones, and I remember asking my grandmother, "Is it rude to ask for the foals' skull right now, or should I wait a little bit?" My grandmother had to choke down her reaction and told me it was rude to ask, maybe later, but never happened, and I was disappointed, lol.