A bone dragged to a Birmingham home by the same dog that previously found a human skull has been determined to be a leg bone.

Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates on Friday said the bone found on Dec. 12 is a human left tibia, which is the lower leg bone.

The skull found in August by the dog was determined to have been a homicide victim.

In the latest find, Birmingham police and the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office responded that Thursday morning to Fifth Place N.W. after the homeowner, who is also the dog owner, called to report another bone had been retrieved.

The investigation began Aug. 20 when a resident found the skull on the shoulder of the roadway next to his home.

It is believed the skull was moved to where it was found by the homeowner’s dog, but the original location of the skull is unknown.

Yates said a search of the area around the residence found no other human remains.

Police later said the medical examination of the skull showed the victim had been shot and the case was deemed a homicide.

The victim has not been identified.

Since then, Yates told AL.com Thursday, the skull was analyzed, and a full DNA profile has been compiled.

However, Yates said, the DNA profile did not match anyone listed CODIS, or the Combined DNA Index System, which is a national DNA database that allows law enforcement to compare DNA profiles from crime scenes, convicted offenders, arrestees, detainees, and missing persons. The FBI maintains the national index.

Yates said the skull belongs to a male. There are features that lead authorities to believe the skull belonged to a Black male, but Yates said the race is not 100 percent confirmed.

Just over a week ago, the same dog showed up in its front yard with the long bone.

Yates said investigators checked nearby properties and woods behind the home but have not yet found where the dog is finding the bones, if indeed they do belong to the same person.

Investigators also checked with area residents and asked them to look at their Ring cameras to see if they could determine where the dog was going to or coming from.

One neighbor, Yates said, did report seeing the dog walking up the street. Another reported seeing the dog “gnawing” on a bone.

Yates said he even stopped a mailman to question him.

Yates on Friday said DNA analysis will be performed to determine if the leg bone is associated with the skull recovered in August.

“We are working with law enforcement to identify missing persons cases possibly associated with the remains and to obtain DNA reference samples from the families of the missing persons for comparison to the recovered remains,’’ he said.

“We are working with the owner of the dogs and residents in the neighborhood to better understand the roaming patters of the dogs in an effort to locate the origin of the remains,” Yates said.