Vertebra puzzle

[Doctor Mud]

Hi folks,

 

I haven’t posted in a while, but I still visit and enjoy the forum most weeks. Thanks everyone. 
 

Just a curiosity. A find at the end of the day that, made me think….that’s a little odd, is that normal? I don’t know enough.

but I know where to ask! 
 

Here is half of a vertebra. 2 inches across.

At this site it can be anywhere from Cretaceous to Pleistocene marine. New Zealand. 

 

we’ve found Miocene and Pliocene cetaceans, seals and penguins. Plus cretaceous plesiosaur and Mosasaur vertebra. There is huge variation in the preservation of bone from these ages. 

 

This vert fragment doesn’t seem to fit into what I’ve seen from cetaceans or marine reptiles. But that’s just the bones I’ve seen. It has thick dense cortical bone and much more open cancellous bone than I’m used to for cetacean. But wondered since it’s small if it could be an ontogenetic thing. Thicker cortical bone in juveniles.

 

Anyway just a curiosity and an opportunity me to learn something. Thanks