AbstractThe probable number of individuals (PNI) estimators all require that we be able to match left‐right paired bones reliably. The problems of matching are outlined and ways of addressing them are reviewed. It is shown that archaeozoological studies in which reliable matching is difficult raise analytical problems similar to those faced by population biologists unable to use classical release‐recapture methods. The removal estimator has been used to estimate the size of whale populations from incomplete census data. It can be generalized into archaeozoology to produce either a simple PNI statistic of the matching type, or a statistic that does not require reliable match