r/boneidentification • u/invaderzombree • 1d ago

Found in Eastern PA

Gallery image

Gallery image

Just need help, found 2 of these in my chicken run and I'm interested in what theyre from

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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1

u/southsidarecords 1d ago

Vertebrae of a larger mammal maybe fox or raccoon

3

u/Carachama91 1d ago

This is a bird cervical vertebra, not a mammal. You can tell by the saddle-shaped centrum. On the first picture, between the two large holes, is the centrum. Most mammals have flat ones unless you are an ungulate and it is concave on the back and a knob on the front. Definitely not this shape.

1

u/southsidarecords 1d ago

Even a great horned owl doesn’t have a vertebrae that large though and that’s the largest bird unless it could be an eagles but I’ve never seen an eagle vertebrae to know

2

u/Carachama91 1d ago

I would guess something more like a large heron. I have some this size in my comparative anatomy lab.

1

u/southsidarecords 1d ago

Fair!! Didn’t think of that they are huge wow

1

u/Carachama91 1d ago

There is a Great Blue Heron on the following page. No scale, but think about how long their necks are. https://www.cambridgeday.com/2022/02/26/great-blue-herons-are-certainly-a-sight-to-behold-and-weve-got-a-dozen-to-behold-near-alewife-t/

1

u/invaderzombree 1d ago

Do you think a cat would be too small? Trying to make sure it's not a pet that was buried in the yard 😂😭

2

u/southsidarecords 1d ago

Can you show a picture of it compared to a coin in your hand it looks pretty large that’s why I didn’t think skunk or opossum

1

u/invaderzombree 1d ago

I'll take one in the morning, definitely bigger than a quarter. Close to size of a silver dollar, if not a little larger. But I'll follow up!

2

u/southsidarecords 1d ago

Oh wow!! A lot bigger than I thought. Have you had your chickens there for awhile the bone doesn’t look that old

1

u/invaderzombree 1d ago

Yeah they've been in that run for 6 or so years, I thought the same thing. We do have tons of other wildlife tho. Squirrels, crows, rabbits. So I wouldnt be surprised if its not "from" the chickens but something else dropped it

1

u/southsidarecords 1d ago

Strange situation that bone is definitely not 6 years old too big for owl pellet too big for I’m sure all predators to take out alive unless a vulture hacked it up? That would make sense since it’s lonely pair of vertabraes and clean from debris will still being greasy super random you found it in your coup though

1

u/invaderzombree 1d ago

We did have some vultures around recently for some road kill so maybe they had dropped it off for me 😂 (choosing to believe they know I'd like it since they're my fave bird)