What Is It?

Some folks walking on Assateague National Seashore in Maryland found this item partially buried in the sand, near the high tide mark.  There are a lot of speculations as to what it might be.  Most people are weighing in that the artifact is a vertebrae bone of some type of large fish, such as a whale, or that it's the fossilized vertebrae from an amphibian, either an alligator or crocodile.
   It doesn't look like a vertebrae to me - there is no opening for the spinal cord, and the growths appear to be horns, to me.  I have the feeling that the bone is the upper part of the skull of some type of small ruminant, a ram, a goat, a Sika (Japanese elk), or a young short-horn cow....
   What do you think this mysterious item might be?  Please feel free to comment!

Item found on Assateague Island beach  (bottom view?)

Item found on Assateague Island beach  (top view?)

Item found on Assateague Island beach

Item found on Assateague Island beach.  Ruler shows almost 8 inches between the V-shaped legs (or horns, or wings).

Some folks on Facebook insist that the item is part of a fossilized crocodile vertebrae (above)

The three items below are whale vertebrae:

Again, what do you think it is?