Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum

Eumetopias jubatus 

I’m swamped!  Life always seems to happen all at one time.  At least we can enjoy these pictures of a Stellar sea lion skull (Eumetopias jubatus, also known as the northern sea lion), juxtaposed with the partially mangled skull and mandible of Ursus americanus, the black bear.  I put them together because I like the morphological similarities between the two families; quite similar, but they inhabit completely different environments.  

(The bear illustration in the background is another in my series about vertebrate pathologies, which I’ll post about when I’m feeling more self-indulgent, but I feel the need to at least credit my own artwork).