please help identify - colorful bone with chop marks

[wart]

the water slide close up

and the ugly bottom....showing the shape of the water slide area.

ive got to get a real camera

[wart]

[wart]

i had to google cortical bone - and was looking at this photo.

because of the dark centralized spot i now see on the "top" of the rock....i was disappointed i didnt see it in either branch of the "T"...nor on the bottom.  

ive never heard of an epiphyseal plate....but it does seem that the marrow (the dark centralized spot) doesnt necessarily pass through the entire bone.

is the area im calling the water slide actually the medullary cavity?  and the red/black wad of crud in the middle of the water slide be marrow?

i am not walking back the plant theory at all, again, they too have these same structures

 

fascinating comparison and hardly an easy choice of the 2 structures - plant trunk vs bone

 

but what doesnt make sense to me in either comparison is the the water slide isnt centralized at all unless a lot of rock is missing...and it could be.

 

i will add one more photo

[wart]

what i tried to show with this photo is that the pretty side with all the green crust is on the right - not facing the viewer.

then you see one of the matching grooves that appear on both sides that i claim are great places to put your thumb when picking it up

and then more green "outer" crust staring the viewer in the face - just below it a large portion of the rock is missing....

but immediately to the left, the water slide appears.....?

if the green crust is the outer layer....

[wart]

....then it appears awfully close to the water slide....dangerously close. so my head hurts as to why the green crust on the front is so far awy from the water slide....but towards the back the green crust is extremely close to it....when, in my brain, it should be more central - and to say that there is a lot of rock missing so it throws off the big picture is ok.....but theres the green "outer crust" so close and actually is similar to the lining of the water slide.....so i called it a tendon and the groove in the (bone) that keeps it in place.

 

wow....i was supposed to work today - but this is a lot more fun.

 

i will check back monday - my boys 11th birthday - he doesnt know about this thread and is going to really enjoy the scientific process in action.  thank you all very much

wart

[Rockwood]

I find this surface hard to picture on a plant, but quite reconcilable with bone structure. 

[ynot]

1 hour ago, Rockwood said:

I find this surface hard to picture on a plant,

Pith cavity?

 

The new set of pictures does make Me lean towards the bone side here.

[Rockwood]

1 minute ago, ynot said:

Pith cavity?

The area to the upper right appears to be contiguous and convex. 

[JohnJ]

I see an eroded vertebra with a partial neural canal and broken processes.  The dark stuff is probably original matrix that filled the canal.

 

 

[Rockwood]

31 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

The dark stuff

It almost has a wooden look, but one would expect a good amount of organic matter in those sediments.

[Scylla]

2 hours ago, JohnJ said:

I see an eroded vertebra with a partial neural canal and broken processes.  The dark stuff is probably original matrix that filled the canal.

 

 

+1, but vert of what? 

[Brad84]

Great find! It looks like it could be a sacral vertebrae from possibly Protohadrosaur. I have some I found that I donated to SMU. If you ever need someone to look at it closer you can always take it up to SMU and Dale can tell you for sure. I could be wrong but it looks pretty close. The sacral tend to fuse together.

[wart]

On 4/26/2019 at 3:04 PM, ynot said:

The new set of pictures does make Me lean towards the bone side here

 

On 4/26/2019 at 4:50 PM, Rockwood said:

It almost has a wooden look

 

On 4/26/2019 at 4:15 PM, JohnJ said:

I see an eroded vertebra with a partial neural canal and broken processes.  The dark stuff is probably original matrix that filled the canal.

 

On 4/26/2019 at 6:25 PM, Scylla said:

but vert of what?

 

19 hours ago, Brad84 said:

It looks like it could be a sacral vertebrae from possibly Proto

hadrosaur

19 hours ago, Brad84 said:

The sacral tend to fuse together

all the quotes in this order reads perfectly - thank you all for your attention - if someone from another source nails the identification ...i will post it here and ask your opinion.

[wart]

On 4/29/2019 at 3:19 PM, Brad84 said:

If you ever need someone to look at it closer you can always take it up to SMU and Dale can tell you for sure.

"It does indeed look like half of an ornithopod sacral vertebra. We have only a couple of those in the collection here, so it is significant. I would be happy to show you the material we have, and I would love to know where you found it.

Thank you for letting me know about your find,

Dale A. Winkler, Dept. of Earth Sciences, SMU, Dallas, TX 75275"

 

that was actually a very fast reply - when i speak to mr winkler i will notify the forum - meanwhile, i will google "ornithopod"

 

many many thanks - william

[JohnJ]

William, if you could arrange a visit with him for a hands on comparison, you will not regret the experience...and your son would never forget it.  Let us know if you get a "hands on" confirmation of ornithopod.  

[Heteromorph]

Nice (possible) ornithopod vert! Do keep us updated. Quite a fascinating thread, and a joy to read through.