The vertebrae shape is common on Mars in the basalt rock, and thousands of similar shapes are in the MER gallery collection- the very interesting thing about the subject is that the layered material on Mars is also showing a huge number of these shapes. The objects are nearly certainly not vertebrae pieces but a mineral shape which is caused by a complex 3D mineralogy propensity or a organizational aspect which is ongoing and not limited to the volcanic source conditions of the <br />'lava' vertebrae. We began seeing them during the first weeks of the two MER landings. Many of the pieces are considered probably 'concretions', or assembled by normal non-melt conditions. Not to be telling you that these cannot be possible signs of life, nor that they cannot be in partial number actual fossils, as these are the first real substancial cataloging misions to Mars, and the natural history of Mars is still a partial mystery.<br />I have found what appears to be complex fossil casts and insect remains fossilized in rocks on Mars in the NASA gallery photos of this past year and a half. The numbers increase dramatically as the size diminishes. <br />The Earth-like items are scaled similar to Earth sizes per type, but the 'Martian' exotica are found more at the smaller size scales, and require the use of the MI photos and some enlargements. I am sure some of the item types are either fossils or living now. I would like to see the image you have, and the terrestrial 'egg' item.<br />The number of 'rock' items that bear a resemblence to Earth fossils and living items is a positive step for science even if the images shapes are shown to be non-organic. <br />Much of the shapeliness of life on Earth may have a direct relationship to these shapes on Mars.<br /><br />You may find the Mars Rover Blog group more receptive than this forum group. I have just presented an image each on the 'Life on Mars' and the 'Photos of Mars' topic subjects and found myself either ignored or given a cold shou