The Vertebra Appreciation Thread : Show Some Back-Bone!

[smokeriderdon]

Quote

2 hours ago, Bone Daddy said:

Awesome vert collection!  That heart-shaped on the llama vert reminds me a vert I found several years back. It also had a heart-shape on the central column. I didn't know what it was, and now I am thinking it might have been a llama and I didn't realize it. Or, is that heart shape common to certain types of vertebrae?

 

 

To be perfectly honest, I am going by what I was told when I found it. I trust the guy who ID'd it, but I really dont know a lot about the morphology. Hopefully someone with better knowledge will chime in. 

[caterpillar]

Some  Steneosaurus vertebras from upper kimmeridge of southwest France

[Bone Daddy]

On 3/10/2020 at 12:28 PM, smokeriderdon said:

 

To be perfectly honest, I am going by what I was told when I found it. I trust the guy who ID'd it, but I really dont know a lot about the morphology. Hopefully someone with better knowledge will chime in. 

 

Verts can be tough. I've tried ID'ing myself using info available on the web and it can be tricky. This is especially true if they are weathered-up or incomplete. Most of the ones I find in the rivers down here are broken or beat-up in some way. I have 3 or 4 unidentified ones for every identified one. LOL.

 

 

[Bone Daddy]

On 3/13/2020 at 12:36 PM, caterpillar said:

Some  Steneosaurus vertebras from upper kimmeridge of southwest France

 

Those are awesome! 

 

 

[LordTrilobite]

Time for some more Spinosaur.

 

I made a new scan of one of my Spinosaur caudal vertebrae. This one is from roughly the middle of the tail.

[Ramon]

I found this tiny distal caudal hadrosaur vertebra while I was fossil hunting in Coahuila, Mexico this spring break. It measures just 1 cm (.4 inches) long.

 

Hadrosaur Distal Caudal Vertebra

Hadrosauridae Indet.

Latest Campanian (73-71 million years)

Cerro del Pueblo formation

Southeastern Coahuila, Mexico

 

 

[Meatasaurus93]

Vertebrae are some of my favorite types of fossils to collect. Here are a couple of Jurassic icons from my collection.

 

Stegosaurus Cervical Vertebra

Private Quarry, East of Dinosaur, Colorado

Lower Morrison Formation

 

 

Allosaurus Caudal Vertebra

Morrison Formation, Wyoming

 

[siteseer]

Ichthyosaur vertebra

Late Jurassic

Oxford Clay

Dorset, UK. 

about 3 1/4 inches (87mm) in widest diameter.

 

I bought it on my first trip to Tucson in 1989 - the first fossil vertebra I ever bought.  I was happy to have something I recognized from books of my childhood.

 

[siteseer]

snake vertebra

Late Eocene

Quercy Phosphorites

Quercy, France

just under 5/8 of an inch (15mm) across - first photo

1/2 inch (13mm( long -second photo

[Rock Hound]

Edited September 6, 2022 by Rock Hound

[siteseer]

30 minutes ago, Rock Hound said:

 

I assume that's a mosasaur.  Where's it from?

 

 

[Rock Hound]

30 minutes ago, siteseer said:

 

I assume that's a mosasaur.  Where's it from?

 

 

I also believe it's possibly a Mosasaur fossil; however, it came to me with zero background information.  I was first told it was most likely reptile in origin, and then later I was told it was possibly from a Mosasaur.  It's heavy like a solid brick.  I just added a couple more photos.

Edited September 6, 2022 by Rock Hound

[siteseer]

Here are three small whale cervical (neck) vertebrae from the Middle Miocene Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, Bakersfield, Kern County, CA.  The one that still has some of the processes has a centrum that is about 1 1/16 inches (27mm) across.

Edited September 12, 2022 by siteseer
clarification

[siteseer]

Here are four small whale caudal (tail) vertebrae from the Middle Miocene Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, Bakersfield, Kern County, CA.  One of them shows a profile view so you get an idea of how thick they are relative to their width.  The one on the left is 1 1/8 inches and is just over 13/16 of an inch thick.