Skull Lab Name: _________________________________________ Period: _______
Background: Even though all animal skulls look a little different, they are set up the same
way. They all have similar anatomy such as eye sockets, teeth, nose cavities, and jaws. If
you found a skull outside of an unknown animal, could you predict what type of animal it
is? Could you predict if it was an herbivore or a carnivore? In this lab you will examine
different animal skulls and make predictions about how the animal lived.
Pre lab- Make Predictions:
1. Eyes
a. A skull with large eye sockets could mean…
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b. A skull with small eye sockets could mean…
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c. A skull with eye sockets in the front of its head could mean…
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d. A skull with eye sockets on the sides of its head could mean…
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2. Teeth
a. A skull with all sharp teeth could mean…
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b. A skull with all flat teeth could mean…
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c. A skull with both sharp and flat teeth could mean…
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3. Nose
a. A skull with a long snout and large nose cavity could mean…
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b. A skull with a small nose cavity could mean…
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4. Horns
a. A skull with large horns or antlers could mean…
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© 2015 Science Rocks
Lab Directions: Make observations of each skull. What does it look like? How is the skull
shaped? How do the teeth look? How big are the eye sockets? Then, make inferences based
on your observations. Lastly, make a prediction of which animal you think it is.
Skull
Number
Observations (at least 3)
Inferences
(herbivore/carnivore/predator)
What is the
animal?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
© 2015 Science Rocks