Desert fossil finder Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Uncle found in 1950s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Looks like they could be vertebrae. Where were they found? And do you know how old they are? Know that would help a lot with identification. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 And can you help with orientation. Not sure what I'm looking at with the bottom photo. Age is definitely important since if it was found in Colorado it can be either Jurassic or Cretaceous. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Ah I see how it's oriented now. I think if it's a vertebra... the first photo might be the bottom. The second photo would be one end of the vertebra that is shown on top in the first photo. And the third photo would be from the bottom of the first photo. It looks like the view in the third photo is a cutaway. So it would be half a vertebra. Come to think of it, it looks like there's a lot of concave areas to save in weight. Could this be half of a Sauropod vertebra? Specifically I'm thinking the posterior end of a cervical vertebra. Could you perhaps make a photo of the sides? the left and right sides on the first photo. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 It's top photo and the two sides responded via pm. Could be sauropod but locality is needed and we do need the extra pictures 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert fossil finder Posted October 14, 2016 Author Share Posted October 14, 2016 Here is more pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 I think I see some sutures where the bone has not yet completely fused yet. On two sides of the bone. Definitely an interesting piece! And good photos as well. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 I don't think it's a vertebra looks more like an appendicular bone. To massive but those holes say vertebra. What about age and locality?. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 The topic Tags indicate: Morrison Formation in Utah. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Thanks, missed that... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Partial bones are always a challenge and guessing game. It's not a skull like your tag suggests, just to massive. Not sure where I come out but I'm leaning on the side of a partial centrum from dorsal vertebra. Most likely from a sauropod because of size and all of the holes and indentations in it, a guess. Excluded most other bones. I don't think it's a cervical because there is not enough air sacs in it. The first picture it's typical of one. This is a dorsal and the fossae and foramina holes could be what we are seeing in the following picture that I've marked in red. Nice paper on sauropod vertebra 55105ed50cf20352196a07c4.pdf 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Desert fossil finder sent these in a personal message to me. The sides of the fossil. I think you're right about it not being cervical due to the lack of air sacks. Though it was hard to tell from just the top and both ends. These sides show a more solid bone. It still looks fairly elongate. Especially the second picture here in my post shows some interesting shapes. Might be possible to figure out a rough location in the body. It also looks like it's right side up in these side pictures. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 That last picture is great, continues to give me a vert vibe showing the foramina holes. Where else would you see them, so deep and smooth? I also agree with your earlier comment about sutures. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Okay I think I've cracked it. I've flipped the last photo for better reference. I have some good photos of Dippy the Diplodocus from the museums in London and Paris. It seems to fit pretty well with the posterior of the neck/cervical vertebrae. The aparent lack of air pockets is just because this is only a very small part of a very large vertebra. The size seems to fit as well and this fossil seems too elongate to be a dorsal or caudal vertebra. The fossae and foramina holes also don't seem to fit those from the back and tail. So I think you have a partial cervical/neck vertebra from a Sauropod. I think Diplodocus is a pretty good fit as well. the other obvious candidate would be Camarasaurus or Brachiosaurus. I don't have that good reference for those two though But I can dig around in my photo archive a bit. But with Diplodocus as example I think your vertebra most resembles the vertebra of the front of the neck. Flipped photo of your fossil. Neck of diplodocus. Base of neck and body. Body and base of the tail. Middle of the tail. Near the end of the tail. 3 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Okay I found some more reference for Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus/Giraffatitan. It's hard to tell which of these animal your vertebra belongs to. But it's definitely a really cool piece! I'm pretty sure this skeleton is a sculpture and not a direct cast. And I'm also not sure if it's based on Brachiosaurus or Giraffatitan. But it's still pretty good reference. And here's some reference for Camarasaurus. A really nice skeleton but it's hard to get good angles of. 2 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Okay partial vertebra of sauropod Nice pictures 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert fossil finder Posted October 15, 2016 Author Share Posted October 15, 2016 Much thanks to you guys, very cool. I will be sending more pics of other things that I have. Thanks again for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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