I am asking because my husband and I were out on the water at the beach on our waverunner and happened to hit a sandbar that “stranded” us for while and while we were trying to figure out what in the hell we were going to do I found this vertebrae that looks very human. I don’t know a whole lot about any animals bone structure and have tried to research it on the internet and haven’t really come up with anything. I am a nursing student and have studied the (human) bones extensively and it definitely looks human but I also know that alot of animals, mammals have vertebrae too but does any of them look like the human vertebraes?
Vertebrae from many different species share similar features to human anatomy. I use whale, deer, lion, and moose vertebrae (all legally obtained by the way) to show anatomical similarity to my students. But if your vertebra looks uncannily human-like, maybe drop it off at a police station for a proper evaluation?
The curve of the spine, especially at the lower back is distinctive of humans. There are no living animals that would be similar that you would find in a lake in North America? or probably anywhere else.
Pigs have the closest anatomy to that of humans. It’s not exact, but it’s pretty close, internally at least.
only way is to get a dna test done on it to determine what it is.