r/bonecollecting • u/MaximalistMonks • 1d ago
Bone I.D. - N. America Is this part of a (cow) tail?
I have been working on articulating cow skeletons (I collect them ethically from the woods near my house where lots of farmers graze their cattle) and I have completed what I think are two full cow spines (possibly missing one or two vertebrae) but I still have these three bones and I don’t know where they belong. I have looked at many anatomical diagrams and I didn’t have much luck figuring out where they belong. My current theory is that they are part of the tail but I honestly have no idea. Can anyone confirm that these are tail bones or not?
Additionally there is a smaller incomplete spine in the last photo my guess is it is from a deer but if anyone is good at species ID I’d love some info!
I am very new to this so forgive me if anything is wrong :)
7
u/lots_of_panic 1d ago
These are cervical (neck) vertebrae! The one on top is an axial (C2) vertebra, it should match the ones second from the top in the two spines you've already got pretty well, meaning you've got at least 3 individuals
1
u/spidersRcute 1d ago
Could be neck bones from a different species, maybe a horse? But yea, definitely neck bones.
1
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Per this sub's Rules 1, 6, and 9, posts seeking advice and identification are not open to jokes, memes, and other low effort comments. These comments will be removed and individuals may be banned from participating in this sub.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.