Chodge613 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Can someone help me identify this fossil vertebra I found in Montgomery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 I always forget if it is crocodile or mosasaur that has the round vertebrae on one side. I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chodge613 Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 I know that mosasaurs do, but this one seemed off a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 crocs and mosasaurs both have a ball and socket vertebra set-up. If this is croc, it is huge. I am thinking mosasaur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 It isn't mosasaur. Looks more like an eroded mammal vertebra...maybe horse. 1 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chodge613 Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) I had three paleontologists, one from Kansas and now two from Alabama, tell me this is a mosasaur vertebrae after I uploaded to this forum. If it’s mammal, I’d ask what Pleistocene mammal did it come from? Edited February 14, 2022 by Chodge613 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 I would look closely at eroded horse lumbar vertebrae. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chodge613 Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 What about it makes it not a mosasaur vertebrae? I found it in Cretaceous/Pleistocene mix. I just need help seeing horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chodge613 Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 I agree with you JohnJ. Sorry it took me a second to realize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Just checked back in...I can see why it might look like a mosasaur to some. But, the interior bone is too spongy, and the large foramen is uncharacteristic of mosasaur. 3 2 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Yup, I fully agree with @JohnJ. While both crocodilians and mosasaurs have procoelous vertebrae that would superficially match the morphology of this specimen, considering the state it's in, I don't believe either of them has these kinds of foramina, subventral keeling or the waisting seen here. Horse vertebrae can look deceptively similar, so I'd say that considering how spongy the bone is, horse is probably the most likely culprit. See also the thread below: 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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