Phrenology

This week I took my first test of the term on the bones of the cat skull. I have to learn the names of almost every bone and major bony structure in the cat skeleton, starting with the skull. During the first week in lab, we checked out small boxes containing a cat skull and jaw which we could keep for the term, even take home. The same cat skulls have been used for this anatomy class since the 1950s or thereabouts and they are shiny and polished from decades of skin grease and handling.

Kitty 182. Pencil for scale.

And I am most certainly not the first nor the last pre-vet/pre-med student who has poked and prodded her own living dog's or cat's skull to see what I could identify through skin and nerves and muscle.