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The Vertebra Appreciation Thread : Show Some Back-Bone!


Bone Daddy

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I love a good vertebra.

 

I have a hard time ID'ing some of the ones I find, but I love them nonetheless.

 

It occurred to me that I have a lot of vertebrae laying around. From tiny critters like baby turtles and snakes, to big critters like whales. I was going through my boxes today, looking for something unrelated, and I kept running across vertebrae. So, tomorrow when the lighting is better (it's dark here now and I'm tired), I am going to lay out all of the vertebrae I have found over the years and take a group photo.

 

Before I share my verts, let's see what you have! Show us your favorite verts! I'll post mine tomorrow.  :)

 

 

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Here's a Triceratops vert that I helped dig out in the summer of 2018 in Wyoming's Lance fm. w/PaleoProspectors. 

5e265b0e0d36c_Day2TrikeVertebra.thumb.JPG.d575b6d9fb5c7fe5d06d5922e7eb775b.JPG

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Here’s a Ceratopsian vert from Drumheller Valley, Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada.

7433FB26-6D09-4633-B4C9-85D0418DF942.jpeg

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How about a camelops cervical vertebrae?  These are hard to find with processes intact. For scale it's about 10" long from tip of process to tip.

1579618338678_camelops cervical vert.gif

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Another vertebrae! a toothed whale vertebrae from the Yorktown Formation, Aurora, North Carolina.

991B12EC-D3BF-4898-BF73-7F1C8A89CD1C.jpeg

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My favorite vertebra is from the Kem Kem beds. I have no idea what animal it belonged to actually but I think it's from a crocodile.

62038511_348094249234257_5570142678160506880_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_oc=AQmZpHiWg254impc0DbIEzQOfYPMUrNjsq_HpADl0xOmsBpkV0We-Miiz4SnnZKGGodxoENOm0uwhWTIf84_IJeQ&_nc_ht=scontent-amt2-1.xx&oh=7799f0c49f66703dadaab862c1330dac&oe=5E90AF63

 

Second one is from the Khouribga phosphate mines. Sold as Mosasaur but I think it's Dyrosaurus phosphaticus. I don't know if it comes from the Cretaceous or Eocene layers.

 

61599368_1099659523563362_8515700433090510848_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_oc=AQkHALvPD3b6hOeSyB0zYXojMxix3B2InDZiChidlb89RrpdehdFaRlNyl-am3iKM8hxQ9PX6n1MNPc1F0qPzCTW&_nc_ht=scontent-ams4-1.xx&oh=e9771a63dc33e5130be3ffa3994898f8&oe=5ECE3EB0

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Spinosaurus, Mantellisaurus (iguanodon) Muraenosaurus (plesiosaur) and Cryptocleidus (plesiosaur) vertebrae 

 

 

Spinosaur vert #3_1400.JPG

Mantellisaurus caudal.jpg

plesiosaur cervicals cleaned#2_1400.jpg

plesiosaur verts maxey#1C.JPG

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I love the dino verts! I never get to see those first-hand down here in Florida. :wub::wub::wub::envy:

Here is my humble collection of verts. All of these have been found in the same general area - the Bone Valley formation in Polk, Hardee, and DeSoto counties of Florida. All were found in or very near the Peace River, with the sole exception of the largest whale vert (that was found at a dry land site). Many of them are not ID'ed, but they likely come from a mix of Miocene cetaceans or sirenia, Pleistocene fauna, and Holocene fauna. Most of these were found by me and a couple of the smaller ones were found by my wife Tina.

For scale, the stainless ruler is 6 inches in length and the black cube is 1cm square.

 

 

vert-family-annotated.JPG

vert-family-2.JPG

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I'll add some spinosaur vertebrae in sequence. We need some 3d scans.

 

Cervical.

 
Dorsal.

 

Caudal.

 

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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Here's my hadrosaur (Edmontosaurus indet.) caudal vertebrae from the Lance Creek Formation of Wyoming with a reconstructed neural spine. This is a pretty cool thread, I'm enjoying looking through it at everyone's vertebrae fossils. Thanks!

 

Scale: each yellow square is one square inch

20191104_085417.jpg

20191104_085502.jpg

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 Love the 3D models and all the others. Here's another. Cervical centrum of Pliosaurus macromerus the giant from the Kimmeridge Clay. This one is 5.5 inches across but some are 50% bigger.

 

 

Pliosaur cervical centrum ex Westbury#1.jpg

Pliosaur cervical centrum ex Westbury#3.jpg

Pliosaur cervical centrum notochordal pit.jpg

rib attachment division.jpg

Stretosaurus cervical rib drawing.jpg

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Good topic & some seriously nice verts here. Fossil hunting for vertebrae definitely isn't something that perpetuates the hobby, but at the same time can also turn a subpar hunt into a good one. 

 

IMG_0107_edited.thumb.jpg.9194cd0676b353aa454dc2f37d2f8178.jpgIMG_0108_edited.thumb.jpg.55daba9d37c1dead4a3f10a72ad9d915.jpgIMG_0111_edited.jpg.e48a6181c46111205ff23b57b5fdefb3.jpg

 

 Glad to include a micro (of sorts,the smallest snake vert there; unsure if I should be more surprised I saw it on the beach without glasses or that I haven't lost track of it after several years xD (only forgot to photograph my biggest mammal vertebrae but it only has the centrum- even Dr. Hulbert couldn't give me an ID besides it is mammalian, & my biggest vert is a mosasaur vert from North Sulphur River that I bought- my heaviest fossil or at least most dense.

 

Also not sure if that creek gator vert is fossil or not, but yeah I still dug it up while fossil hunting

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Here are a few of my Verts.

 

Hadrosaur Vert-

 

02B49509-8672-4DA8-B13E-869F3BF02DC6.thumb.jpeg.00ac4d30a79153cda5180d8656a60011.jpeg172ACA58-0733-4B40-B386-1C578800AC7E.thumb.jpeg.342211a9b603032f80c7262003d128bb.jpeg0323E57A-29FB-4708-B332-7B5D83955C2F.thumb.jpeg.069a9748fe0bad5717a647f00d9d82c0.jpeg

 

Mosasaur Vert-

 

892DD40F-9880-49DD-90E1-2D567A9840EE.thumb.jpeg.e8542905aa237b73b794aa9fdd876a8a.jpeg6B0AF519-0FBD-4767-BD01-D07607CA0017.thumb.jpeg.bca31335fa84165511288f61020ed401.jpeg
20997CDC-D8C1-438F-BB27-8939E426F2F2.thumb.jpeg.829bf5c1e45a8ddcf3441d83ca6d37b3.jpeg

 

Titanothere Verts-

White River Badlands- Oligocene 

 

7870908E-CB2A-4FD8-A212-A22700179A51.jpeg.3f3ed38209d25ff9ed9d242eadb8eb3b.jpeg2845387A-DE5A-46DE-8495-A0F6BC641979.jpeg.ae676b38945816f2303144bb3d463d48.jpeg

 

 

Misc. White River Verts-

 

5D512C4E-D6B4-417E-9E84-30DF5EE91598.jpeg.0a76ba98ae3b7145f9c91a2b698e1198.jpeg9E8AB125-B967-4418-87D1-44284D28DD11.thumb.jpeg.d0fec4ed12b2f984e597b7ce00f9b9f5.jpeg534812EA-CC6F-4569-B265-6C0052D6EB6F.jpeg.dfcd17b0b2e8f83384176d95c906dbc7.jpegEDB5F121-40D2-4BD8-A45C-6CDA7E4D5335.thumb.jpeg.4703bb3a2f393ef7f964d637b3a645c2.jpeg
 

Associated Verts-

 

C1994B16-DD85-4F38-A6FB-3A50A5EA7121.jpeg.e572cdc4721d504fbf2d80fb1a73a4ff.jpeg

 

 

Oreodont Vert-

 

B94C0304-AB2E-48D4-A865-FC51C8FD4CA1.jpeg.280039c2c6c92f691dfc1f8c1e3f2f42.jpeg

 

 

Whale Verts-

 

45FAEB8D-D79C-4A5E-B119-9016B4CD3042.jpeg.84f5f82297f618897ab848a0d39af588.jpegF7B5E147-012B-451A-9120-B120965CC317.jpeg.47f8c64017fd9c88f5d74b39a6429129.jpeg89089B18-2298-427B-BBEE-B794EBEB6986.jpeg.81552e3f4996f6a3c7d4026e8f419458.jpegDC02BC71-F7D3-4929-B626-C2240718013D.jpeg.691c66edf52048240d9d34705619d6dc.jpegBB2B38C8-A1A7-4F04-BA16-E3274B2D726C.jpeg.e14ef2cf60c58583a75876de52c91d4d.jpeg

 

 

Moroccan Verts-

 

4636BBA3-5538-427A-910C-E0C623FEFD65.jpeg.3e6f35ebc0367a3d3f9245b8aa871c2c.jpeg

 

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Holy Smokes! That is a ton of verts!

 

Besides the dino verts (which are awesome), I really like that Moroccan shark vert in matrix.  :)

 

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7 hours ago, Bone Daddy said:

Holy Smokes! That is a ton of verts!

 

Besides the dino verts (which are awesome), I really like that Moroccan shark vert in matrix.  :)

 

Thanks- I am partial to the Titanothere Verts and the large whale piece.

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Aloha

Sorry, no fossils, but my two favorite Vertebrae.

The left one is something like a Marlin I found at my very first visit to the pacific,

the right one is a Dolphin that I found sticking upright in the sand like a cross or letter "T" in Portugal.

Coming back to the same place two years later I found the fitting skull, or so I think.

Best Regards

verts.jpg

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Try to learn something about everything and everything about something

Thomas Henry Huxley

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  • 3 weeks later...

small caudal vertebrae form Wealden Bexhill bone beds Uk I have it only down to Archosaurs but maybe croc. It is about 12 mm . It is quite nice. 

3892AA63-7A8B-4DF8-87E5-471678286DA9.jpeg

E796E02A-D90D-4307-ACAE-DBE026376055.jpeg

E3CC7EDC-1EDD-4437-BD3F-1941BF7F6F8E.jpeg

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This is an Edmontosaur vert my son and I recovered last year from the SD Hell creek fm.  Missing the neural spine and on of the processes.

 

 

vert.jpg.205dc2af2f11d273bc18f6f59b2336c7.jpg

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"There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin

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Here are two T rex verts. The first one is two fused sacral verts w a total measurement of 15 inches. ID'd by Pete Larson. I purposely left open the window of the honeycomb matrix during prepping. The second is a caudal vert. 

IMG_3368.jpg

IMG_3221.JPG

IMG_3017.jpg

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I don't have any fancy-smancy dino verts. Most of mine are a bit younger.

Heres a few of my offerings.

Cetacean- from Bakersfield, California middle Miocene.

20200213_193117.jpg

20200213_193011.jpg

An associated cetacean column from Maryland.

20200213_193057.jpg

Thoratic vertebra from a ground sloth, Pleistocene, Florida

20200213_192948.jpg

An interesting size graduation of fish verts from 1.25" down to sand grain size. Mid. Miocene, Bakersfield, California.

20200213_193032.jpg

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