Is This Just A Cow Vertebra ?

[koscojo]

I found this yesterday along a river in NW Missouri. I know that river locations can make fossilization/petrification occur faster. I am on the fence about this one. Not sure how old it is. My dad says it looks like a cow vertebra, which I think is possible since the river is on farm land. What do you think it is? Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

http://photobucket.com/koscojo

P.S. Don't be angry I linked the pictures because I tried to attach them, but they were too large. Sorry.

[Xiphactinus]

Cow or bison. Hard to tell them apart.

[koscojo]

Any idea on how old it may be?

[siteseer]

You would have to determine what rock layers are cut into by the river in the general area and near where you found it in particular. A vertebra with its processes largely intact would not have been washed out too far from where you found it. Without knowing the source of the specimen, it's difficult to say how old it is. Bones can be at least partly mineralized in certain environments or not at all in others and the unmineralized specimen could be a lot older than the mineralized one. If it's a cow, it's probably no older than a couple of hundred years old (and probably younger than that). If it's a bison, it could be tens of thousands of years old or it could be from the 19th century.

Any idea on how old it may be?