Dear Museum-Lers,

We were sent from someone in the NE USA (Maine) a large bone definitely
adapted as a hanging plant holder.  The vertebrate paleontologist
identified it as a whale vertebra.  What we would like to know is:

Is this a common adaptation of a whale bone? Or does this represent an
unique occurence of an imaginative person?  Has anyone ever seen one
before and/or do any museums have them in their collections?

Thank you very much in advance.

Julie Golden
Curator of Paleontology
Department of Geology
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA  52242

e-mail: [log in to unmask]
tel: 319-335-1822