big bone found on a beach at the Philippines

[AlexPH]

Hi folks,

I found this big bone at a remote beach at a philippine island. Does anyone knwo what kind of bone it might be? I thought maybe a whale head bone, but it seems bigger than that. It weights more than 100kg. Thanks for any tips and info!

 

Best 

Alex

[Fossildude19]

Back end of a whale skull.

[AlexPH]

Ok many thanks. Is it possible to say what kind of whale or at least what size of whale approximately? Diameter is around 2 metres.

[Shellseeker]

Two meters is about 6 feet... 

There is a photo here of the skull of a 45 foot Humpback whale with humans standing around

https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/nature/whale-68-articulation-project.htm

and here of the complete whale skeleton...

https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/nature/whale-exhibit-grand-opening.htm

 

[Shellseeker]

Here is a neat video of reconstructing a juvenile Humpback skeleton for University of Florida....

 

 

[Doctor Mud]

 

You can definitely get size from that skull. As others have said back end of  a whale skull. Looks like it is sitting on the ground orientated the right way up.

 

I wondered if the earbones are still in place. See bright pink highlighted bones in above image. Given how beat up the skull is they could be gone, but in mysticetes (baleen whales) they are tightly bound to the skull. You would need to flip it over. 
 

there might be enough skull for an ID but you would definitely get an ID off the earbones. 

[Mahnmut]

On 8/6/2024 at 11:53 AM, AlexPH said:

 I thought maybe a whale head bone, but it seems bigger than that.

Cool find.

There are not many bones that are bigger than a big whale head. I think some ceratopsian dinosaurs, some ichthyosaurs maybe, nothing else that I know of.

But yours is definitely a whale. I tend to think spermwhale due to the steep backside, but hard to say from the pics.

 

Best regards,

J