5.4" Ornithopod Dinosaur Vertebra - Isle of Wight, England

This is a rare, 5.4" tall vertebra of a Lower Cretaceous age Ornithopod dinosaur. It was collected from the Wealden Clays of the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight. The vertebra is warped from millions of years of geologic forces, however it is quite intact considering the circumstances. Both transverse processes and the spinous process are missing. There are multiple repaired cracks through each pedicle where the vertebral arch broke away from the centrum. The rock has been removed from the neural canal, exposing the hole through which the dinosaur's spinal cord would have been. There is no restoration to this vertebra.

There are several ornithopods that have been discovered from this formation, so accurately identifying an isolated vertebra like this down to the genus is difficult.