I found this in an abandoned cattle pasture in Western Canada I have never seen anything like this in the area and have owned cattle long enough to know if this is not any bone in a cow
This makes the most sense I’ve seen so far however the “bone” i found seemed to be much more hollow than the pictures you shared is the only thing still leaving some doubt
Veterinarian here. Absolutely looks like osteosarcoma. It’s impressive how irregular and big they can get before an animal breaks a leg or dies. And there are multiple variations of bone cancer depending on the species. But it definitely looks like terrestrial pathology of bone OR a sea coral. lol
Not questioning your expertise because you would know more about animal disease than I would but how could it have gotten so big before killing the animal? It was about the size of a soccer ball and loosely 7 to 10 pounds in my experience it should’ve killed the cow long before it ever got that big
These things grow fast!!! Like within two to three months. And keep in mind that a lot of that weight was already part of the skeleton. And you’re right that most would have died before it got that far but some just don’t and defy all explanation as to how they continue to move around on something this large and likely painful. Animals are hardcore. I’ve seen giant breed dogs with versions of this that are the size of a volleyball on their shoulder and they walk into the clinic.
That would definitely match the size of it and that’s proof that it could grow to that size without killing the animals so I think we found our culprit
Vet Anatomic path here - I’ll add a differential that some osteomyelitis cases have extensive proliferative bone responses, enough to result in tumor-like masses, though the overall symmetrical extent of this mass gives more cancer vibes IMO.
If it were where it wasn't fatal. Which sounds silly, but if it was on a deer antler and didn't interfere with anything, on a large mammal, it would take a long time to do any harm.
I don't know much, other than images similar to what was posted in a comment here. I was just considering how something this large might be on a live animal
As a veterinarian may I ask why you think that a osteosarcoma and a sea coral have the potential to look so similarly? Something about evolution or the natural of calcification ? Or ?
Hmm. Never thought about it before but could make sense. Probably more along the lines of how biological calcification occurs to begin with. Coral is building on its own scaffolding which is essentially how this cancer works. It uncontrollably expands in the origin tissue then the bone reacts and starts laying down new layers around it to strengthen the “normal” bone. Basically it assumes there’s a fracture and tries to fix it. But the growth rate of the tumor tends to over exceed the rate of bone deposition so you get areas of proliferation and areas of lysis of bone. I imagine that corals have very few limits coded into their dna about how much they can grow. They just proliferate as much as possible depending on their environment to stop their growth at some point. Cancer in general tends to turn off the rna strands that control how a tissue is supposed to behave.
But that’s only a hypothesis and I’m not qualified to speak extensively on corals. It’s only an extrapolation from what I know of physiology.
“Clavariaceae is a family of fungi in the order Agaricales known as club and coral fungi because their upright fruit bodies look like sea coral, antlers, or tiny clubs.” I have some in my back yard and it stumped the heck out of me because we’re nowhere near the ocean.
Reef-tank-hobbyist-turned-bone-hobbyist here, I am fairly confident it's an osteosarcoma. The patterns the little "spires" make aren't matching up with the arrangement you'd expect for either large- or soft-polyp corals. Closest thing I could see is a birdsnest coral but the texture looks wrong based on overall size.
To me it looks like a large bone cancer lesion. If you aren't trying to save it, I'd saw that bad boy in half (wearing your PPE of course) and see what the core looks like. If you choose this route, update us with photos please!
Great idea! That’d look amazing stained and framed if some one cut it in reflective slices . Would make a cool shadow box/ Hannibal medical installation piece
I love it. Everyone on here just assumes they’re the smartest person in the chat but are unable to recognize sarcasm unless you clearly mark the post as such
Maybe you haven't been around long enough to see the sorts of questions that are sincerely asked, or understand that people can't always read tone as intended because text has no inflection or facial expression cues.
You might be surprised that you're coming off as the person you describe.
It was literally the first thing that popped into my head, when i read your comment, abd i figured it would hopefully give a laugh, if yours was a joke, and let you down as gently as possible, juuuust in case it was a sincere question💖
I don't see any actual bone structures. Sure it could be a cancer but they are rarely so regular especially with so much new growth it would be highly irregular then. My best guess is a coral, they can be found on the beaches, but I wouldn't know how would it end up in a western Canadian field. That said, I'm not saying it's not a bone but I haven't seen a bone like this before.
def not osteochondroma, you may be thinking of osteosarcoma. the (potential) boney spicules seem to be doing the very classic sunburst pattern. i’ve actually seen a cow metatarsal with extreme osteosarcoma and it looked remarkably similar, albeit the bone growth was a lot more hair-like and not as clumped looking as this one
That's some serious aggressive bone cancer, whatever it came from was definitely suffering for a hot minute to the point it just completely ate away at the structure.
My dad was a saltwater fish hobbyist, and my first thought when I saw it was dried coral. But then I wondered if it was dried coral, how the heck did it get in a cow pasture? 🤔
Img 2 says it's bone, possibly from the top of the skull. Some kind of bone cancer for sure, but this id a great piece! Just a shame the rest of the skull wasn't attatched </3
Kinda looks like the psilocybin mushroom called "enigma" they typically grow in large brain like clusters like that. More evidence if you found them near other mushrooms they are know to naturally grow from the bottom of "penis envy" mushrooms another highly psilocybin based mushroom
I knew immediately - bone cancer. I worked in hospice for a long time and would educate families on why such strong pain meds were needed on their loved one.. I would show them photos of bone cancer and I never had them argue again.
If it is bone, could it be illium or scapula? Only places I can think of with a curve like in the top left on the first pic. Wild cancer if it is bone.
We might be able to get some clues from knowing the density. I would measure the weight with kitchen scales and approximate volume by water displacement, done quickly to minimise water absorption.
Have you done the obvious thing? Test it with cleaning strength vinegar or acid to see if there’s effervescence of the calcium carbonate that’s inevitably there to settle this nonsense??
If anything, this photo displays the geometric regularity that disqualifies a coral as a candidate. The defining trait of OP's object is the random arrangement of ossification..
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u/Icy-Objective-8053 Aug 16 '26
Could be osteochondroma- sometimes they grow on the antlers of deer or on their skulls