Hi Eve
Why don't you send me some photos of your bones and let me see what you've got?
 
Very basically you have the body and the arch (2 pieces), which fuse quite early (c 5yr in humans much earlier in small mammals). the body also has 2 plates to front (anterior/head) and back (posterior/caudal=tail) which can fuse quite some time later and fuse first cranially. There are also some secondary ossification points at the ends of the spinous/transverse processes and the superior/inferior rims of the body.
 
Try googling 'vertebral development ossification' or 'vertebral epiphysis'. You can look at human material to give you a general idea of development as it's pretty much the same in mammals...

http://www.slideshare.net/medicmesirmansurah/development-of-vertebral-column

This has some interesting bits, but probably too technical/tissue-related on most of it for what you're after, but there are others listed which may be better.

http://faculty.mercer.edu/young_he/class-of-2016-phase-b/pdf-files/vertebrae-intervertebral-discs.pdf

The last 10 slides are most pertinent for you.

 

You can also check out google books.

 

cheers

Pam

 
Pamela J Cross
PhD researcher, Bioarchaeology
Horses of Men & Gods project
(AHRC, NT, SHS, Bernard Cornwell & MoL)
Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, BD7 1DP UK
p.j.cross (at) student.bradford.ac.uk / pajx (at) aol.com
http://www.barc.brad.ac.uk/resstud_Cross.php
http://bradford.academia.edu/PamCross
http://www.suttonhoo.org/saxon.asp (2012, Issue 54)
 
 
 
In a message dated 03/09/2013 02:33:01 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes:
I've moved from working on human remains to animal and I'm puzzled by
the unfused vertebrae of a raccoon. I have several epiphyses and I see
that they are paired, back to back, and joined by some material
(collagen?). I think this is different from human vertebrae.
How do they develop? Where do they start?

And is there any material available online about bone fusion and the
sequence? The assorted bones I've been given to identify appear to be
largely from immature animals. I'd like some pictures of unfused bones
to help me with identification.

Eve