Texas vertebrae

[Egrigg]

From what two of my friend have said, this is most likely a mosasaur vertebrae. To get specific maybe a mosasaur terminal vertebrae. I’m still not totally sure though so if I could get some help on the ID I would appreciate it!

[Rockwood]

34 minutes ago, Egrigg said:

terminal vertebrae.

Its not terminal, its dead.  Possibly a caudal, or just a small animal. In this condition it may be hard to tell.

[JohnJ]

It does appear to be a highly eroded mosasaur vertebra.  This preservation might be due to the local geologic environment or due to passing through an ancient digestion system.  It doesn't display any characteristics to suggest it being a terminal vertebra.  Cool little find.

[Egrigg]

7 hours ago, Rockwood said:

Its not terminal, its dead.  Possibly a caudal, or just a small animal. In this condition it may be hard to tell.

Hmm, maybe I was given the wrong meaning for terminal. I was trying to use the word as a description of a vertebrae at the very end of the tail. Maybe coccyx would be correct?

[Rockwood]

3 minutes ago, Egrigg said:

Hmm, maybe I was given the wrong meaning for terminal. I was trying to use the word as a description of a vertebrae at the very end of the tail. Maybe coccyx would be correct?

I see what you mean. You may have been correct to begin with. I don't think I've ever herd the term used in that context, but that means little. 

Coccyx seems wrong though.

[hadrosauridae]

2 hours ago, Egrigg said:

Hmm, maybe I was given the wrong meaning for terminal. I was trying to use the word as a description of a vertebrae at the very end of the tail. Maybe coccyx would be correct?

 

Distal caudal vertebra are the end tail verts.  Without a complete skeleton you cant tell if it was the very last one.  Ones that definitely came from the last few, I have seen referred to as "distal distal".

Edited November 27, 2022 by hadrosauridae

[Jared C]

the end of the tail can also be referred to as terminal (ignore the red circle, see the end of the tail)

[jpc]

I think the OP is asking about the very last vertebra (only one, no 'e' at the end), so the 'terminal' in the above drawing is not quite what they are looking for.  I'll be honest... I do not know if the very last vert on a mosasaur is has a different morphoplogy than the one before it.  I agree that this one may be more worn out than actually different.

 

By the way, the technical term for these very last ones is 'final spinal'.  

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

I agree that both preservation and the convex surface suggest this be a mosasaur vertebra, albeit one that's very worn (anterior end is missing). Without more of the vertebral body present, it'll be difficult to determine where along the spine this vertebra may have come from, as all vertebrae following the thoracic have basically faces.