Collection of caudal vertebrae from a Hadrosaur?

[DitraFossil]

Good evening, all. I have the opportunity to acquire this collection of caudal vertebrae. They appear to be from a hadrosaur. However, they have different coloring, so my guess is that they are from different hadrosaurs. Also, two of the pieces were broken and glued, and the glue is apparent. I have the opportunity to purchase it. Thoughts?

[Fossildude19]

Please be advised, the Forum does not allow discussion of prices or reputation of sales venues.

[DitraFossil]

Sorry! Got it. I’m mostly curious on everyone’s thoughts about the fossil itself. 

[Troodon]

The label says Hell Creek Formation so the vertebrae are from the Hadrosaur Edmontosaurus annectens

They are not an associated set but a composite from the same type of dinosaur but from different localities and age group just arranged by size of centrum.

Edit:

  The age on the label is wrong its 66 million years

[Troodon]

Just for your info this is what an Edmonto associated set looks like from mid tail.  These include the chevrons

 

 

 

[DitraFossil]

Thank you! That is very helpful. I noticed that the composite set I am looking at only has the protruding parts (the “process”?) of any significant length on the larger pieces. Are the smaller ones broken off? It is hard to tell. 

 

Also, do folks even like to collect the composite vertebrae sets? Or are associated sets all that is worth collecting?

[Troodon]

The vertebra I marked appears to have completed processes.  If the end is not rounded its been broken off but from what I can see its not much on most.

Collecting associated sets is pretty hard because these bones are not often found together.  So from what I can tell lots of collectors buy individual specimens but it's your call in what you like.   These are not placed anatomical correct just by centrum size.

 

 

[DitraFossil]

Thank you, this is very helpful. For me, I like the visual aesthetic of the piece, and some of the larger centrums are very impressive. It all looks authentic, albeit composite, but I always appreciate another set of eyes to confirm each centrum looks visually to be authentic. 

[RJB]

  Not an associated set, but still purty darn cool!

 

RB

[jpc]

agreed with all that has been said.. as for your concern that some of these have been glued together, it is rare to find bones from the Hell Creek that have not been glued.  They are most often found already broken.   Glue is not like reconstructions.  Reconstruction recreates missing parts; glue puts the actual existing parts back together.  I would be more concerned if the glue were gluing parts of different bones together , but the fixes I see on these look perfectly legit. I am sure that there is likely more glue than the two spots you have noticed.