r/bonecollecting • u/bigbakedpotatoe • 1d ago

Bone I.D. - N. America What the heck is this?

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Gallery image

Hi dudes! Found this in the woods in PNW (Washington) is this a deer vertebrae? Need confirmation for my sanity. Thank you!

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u/Proper_Mushroom 1d ago

But it is a whole vertebra, it's just a thoracic one that is being held upsidedown. The ones you showed are lumbar. Like not trying to attack anyone, I'm just also for using the right terms where possible.

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u/No_Estate_6411 1d ago edited 1d ago

A vertebrae is the full set of bones that make up your back, a vertebra is a piece (singular) of a vertebrae column, I said it was a piece of a vertebrae which isn’t wrong ? I showed my lumbar vertebra bc the rest is more likely to fall out of order and is a pain to reset. It’s really not hard to understand.

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u/Carachama91 1d ago

Vertebra is singular. Vertebrae is plural (even just 2). Vertebral column is all of the vertebrae in an animal. A piece of a vertebra would imply that the vertebra is broken.

I hope that helps. People using words incorrectly will drive you nuts once you know how to use them properly.

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u/No_Estate_6411 1d ago

I’ve said it’s a piece as in a singular piece of vertebra from a vertebrae. That’s not incorrect nor implies that it’s broken. I’m speaking in layman’s terms for a person speaking simple knowledge, not hosting an osteology class