Custom centaur skeleton

Ben says: "Although Skulls Unlimited generally articulates species that actually exist, we are sometimes asked to create custom skeletal mounts, such as this Centaur. Created using the torso of a real human skeleton and melding it with the body of a horse, this mythical skeleton turned out to be an interesting and fun project."

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

herrnichte

you just know some linear-minded kill-joy is going to want to know where that “real human skeleton” came from and if the “real human” signed off to become part of a centaur skeleton …for sale. i’m sure glad i didn’t wonder about that!
Donald Petersen

Someone (certainly not me) is gonna be all bent outta shape that a real human skeleton was used to create this.

Me, my only issue is with the alarmingly unprotected abdominal area of the humanoid end. Even if the “junk” is down ‘neath the tail, there’d seem to be a lot of valuable kidneys & stuff that could use better protection, as would whatever gastrointestinal tubing connects the mouth to the equine gut area.

But then, I guess centaurs aren’t actually physiologically viable in their classical form, are they?
- http://www.facebook.com/daverowley David Rowley
  
  That is exactly why centaurs became extinct.
- Beanolini
  
  But then, I guess centaurs aren’t actually physiologically viable in their classical form, are they?
  
  A real actual scientist has published research on that very subject in a renowned journal.
  - Lobster
    
    Did he have a lab coat? A white one? I only trust actual scientists with real lab coats.
Susan Carley Oliver

3D print project!
peromyscus

It’s at times like this I realize my job is boring compared with some other people’s.
- SonOfSamSeaborn
  
  People who work in marketing probably feel like that all the time.
  - http://twitter.com/Listener43 Listener43
    
    Yes, we do.
SonOfSamSeaborn

Why can’t Disqus just use a normal textbox? Why an iframe? WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE
Lobster

Forget the human. Someone’s going to get all bent out of shape that a horse or horse facsimile died for this art.

Also that the human’s delicious legs were wasted.
- Donald Petersen
  
  There is that. But I have to wonder: what supplied the tail?
David Dies

I have a coffee table book about the Henson Creature Lab, in which they walk you through their process of developing the wireframe skeleton of a centaur in a virtual world (possibly video game…it’s been a while since I looked) on which they then render flesh, etc.. Pretty similar to this. They said one of the biggest challenges was working out at which vertebra to combine the two spines.
xtalman

If you ever are in the Oklahoma City area you should check out the Museum of Osteology that Skulls Unlimited has. There are some really neat natural oddities in there.

My guess the human did sign off. I talked with the owner briefly when visiting there and he indicated they do get some odd requests.

The also find donations at there doors in the morning, though no human ones as of yet.
InsertFingerHere

As long as we only do this to the DEAD.

Yes, I’m speaking to you, Dr. Heiter.
SonOfSamSeaborn

Motaro wins.
Mitch_M

The right angle bend in the spinal column looks very painful and that’s a hell of a lot of vertebrae.
http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo

I’m pretty utilitarian, but I can’t help feeling like some sort of line has been crossed here…

IMO there’s precious little daylight between something this ridiculous and using somebody’s skull for an ashtray.

It feels strange to be the guy saying this… irreverence is all well and good, but it’s worth nothing if you don’t revere anything.

In short, it seems far too frivolous and stupid a use for somebody’s remains, whether they wanted it or not.
- Lobster
  
  For what it’s worth, I actually think it’d be kind of cool if someone used my skull as an ashtray after I’m done with it.
  - erin jones
    
    Yeah, me too, Lobster. I’d be pleased that my bones were going to some good use. Fertilizer’s fine. And an ashtray’s great. There’s a disheartening dearth of well-designed ashtrays for sale these days. Or maybe I just don’t come across them.
    
    At any rate… I hereby invite anyone in my neighborhood to grab my femur for a household defense device before it’s shlepped over to the crematorium. Any remaining bones are free to all. I’m a pretty sensitive, empathetic person, actually, but I don’t really understand why one’s bones should be considered precious.
    
    What’s that? Why yes, I do have a liver donor card.
    - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
      
      I don’t really understand why one’s bones should be considered precious.
      
      I’m not sure ‘precious’ aptly describes it, but IMO someone grinding out fag-ends in what was the seat of your consciousness seems to embody a pretty hefty amount of disregard for the miracle of one’s existence.
      
      I kinda lump it in the same category as folks who find video of people being killed entertaining.
      
      I hate sacred cows myself, and I’m not sure I’ve always felt like this about it, but my time tripping has left me in awe of being alive, and less inclined to thumb my nose at notions of the divine…
      
      And I’m pretty sure there’s very little divinity to be had from making novelty items crafted from human remains.
      
      It’s not as if there any obvious nasty consequences or anything, but the whole vibe of the idea just seems somehow fundamentally uncool. Of course, the obvious question is, why draw the line at humans? …I’m not sure I do. I’d definitely like to know more about the experience of the brainier animals…
      - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
        
        I’m not sure ‘precious’ aptly describes it
        
        Actually, ‘precious’ is prolly a good word for how I’m being about it, as far as many are concerned.
        
        I dunno. Look at some Alex Grey stuff if you’re wondering where I’m coming from…
Petzl

This is where we’ve come to. The guy’s actually scared to say he recovered a real centaur skeleton so he has to pass it off as a manufactured, “fantasy” product. Looks pretty real to me. TEACH THE CONTROVERSY: http://centaurtruth.org
KaiBeezy

“…the Klingon death howl, a warning to those in the afterlife that they should beware as a Klingon warrior is about to arrive. Once this is done the body is considered to be an empty shell, to be disposed of as needed.”
.
but yeah
two ribcages
2x vertebrae
sharp angled spine
crazy digestive tract
heart goes where?
2 hearts?
4 lungs?
if not, what fills up 2x torso space?
need extra brain to operate 6 limbs?
.
herbivore? omnivore?
if digestion mainly horse, optimized for vegetation
human mouth pretty small for all that chewin’
- Bodhipaksa
  
  Dang, you made almost all the points I was going to make. The respiratory system alone is a nightmare. If there are lungs in the horsey part, the air has to travel an unfeasibly long distance from the mouth and nostrils. If the lungs are in the human part, they’re too small to oxygenate such a large body. If they’re in both parts, you have both problems. Some skeletons are just not meant to be seen.
  
  (When I was younger I always drew dragons without hind legs, since a six-limbed reptile seemed absurd. Thinking too much is a curse.)
  - morcheeba
    
    upper diaphragm with air sac is primarily used for vocalization.
    lower lungs draw air in from gills right behind the lower shoulder.
  - sirliam
    
    Everyone knows the wings evolved out of the dragons forearms, so they still have their back legs and the number of limbs they have stays consistent with the tetrapod body design. Have you ever seen the movie Dragon Slayer?
- http://profiles.google.com/bill.altreuter Bill Altreuter
  
  In the Narnia books somewhere a character talks about the way centaurs eat: both stomachs need to be satiated, so inviting one for a weekend visit is a big undertaking. I’d have just assumed that oatmeal and beer would be sufficient, but I guess not.
marukosu

Do Skulls Unlimited take pre-orders? A furry friend with nice bone structure wants to know.
Snig

In my hometown, the nearest green space to the big ice cream parlour used to be a graveyard. People would sit on the wall and eat their cones. I thought it was a little odd, even as a kid, but then I thought what nicer place to spend eternity then hanging around kids eating icecream. Given the normal destiny of lying in a quiet box in a quiet field, don’t you think there’d be some appeal to getting out a little more and meeting new people, even if there is no consciousness beyond death? I’ve thought about being a Yorick prop skull the same way. I actually think dead is likely dead, but would rather have my parts be an interesting keepsake than stuck unappreciated in a box. Ideally, planning on donating my body for donors, then to my school, they collect such things.
- xtalman
  
  You from Endicott?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=542921054 Steve Schnier

Well, it looks cool anyway…
webbysan

While all the points made are important, what i cant quite get my head around is…

How does a Centaur wipe it’s arse? There’s no way it could reach that far back surely.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BZPUF2EASKRBUSDXMNN4IRB5GA dahlia

literal minded killjoy here! the real-human-skeleton part makes me entirely uncomfortable. i know the original owner is long gone and no longer in need of it, but still … just. no.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=709557185 Jennifer Hinojosa

I know I’ve seen this somewhere before… http://8.p.s.mfcdn.net/store/manga/9459/01-001.0/compressed/kequus_ch_01_eng.equus_ch_01_p02.jpg