Texas - small vertebra

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

Here is a small vertebra that I found. It's completely mineralized. It's pretty small. Don't believe it to be horse or cow. Deer is my go to. Just not sure about the triangular shape of the opening and the flatness of the body.

Edited January 3, 2023 by johnnyvaldez7.jv

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

This too is pretty small...a deer thoracic vertebra?

[fossilus]

Thoracic vertebrae have rib attachment points (generally oval shaped). I would guess that this might be a caudal, (it seems to narrow on one end) which can make it harder to ID, as they are often not described in literature.

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

Yeah I'm having trouble with the flat centrum, and triangular neural canal, and what would be the full height of the dorsal spine.  It doesn't look like a deer thoracic that I saw a 3d image online of...and as you said, caudal are even harder to find. 

[ClearLake]

I am in the caudal vert. camp, especially the very early ones. Coming into and out of the sacrum, the neural canal tends to be triangular in many mammals and the body is relatively flat (laterally elongated). Here is a picture of the first joint out of the sacrum on a cow to show what I mean. I’m not saying yours is a cow for sure, this is just an example. Your picture shows the articulating surface to be almost an inch wide, that is way too big for a deer caudal but is more in the ballpark of a cow judging by my specimens. Sorry, I didn’t hold a tape measure up when I took the picture, but the base of the triangular opening is just under 3/4”. 
 

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

Thank you for that info.  That's interesting.  I had no idea cow or horse vertebrae could be that small. I've found plenty of others that are just huge compared to these but I know there are juvenile as well to consider even if this is an adult it just blows my mind trying to ID these...so many possibilities.  Also thanks for informing me about the early verts and their triangular shape...now I know where to look when I find another.