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MOSASAUR JAW.jpg

Dpaul7

By Dpaul7

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Mosasaur Jaw
 
Oued Zem, Morocco
TIME PERIOD: Late Cretaceous (73-95 Million Years Ago)
First and most importantly, mosasaurs are not dinosaurs. Mosasaurs (from Latin Mosa meaning the 'Meuse river', and Greek sauros meaning 'lizard') are an extinct group of large marine reptiles. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764. Mosasaurs probably evolved from an extinct group of aquatic lizards known as aigialosaurs in the Early Cretaceous. During the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous period (Turonian-Maastrichtian ages), with the extinction of the ichthyosaurs and pliosaurs, mosasaurs became the dominant marine predators. They became extinct as a result of the K-Pg event at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: †Mosasauridae

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MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7

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Photo Information

  • Taken with Canon Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
  • Focal Length 6 mm
  • Exposure Time 1/60
  • f Aperture f/2.8
  • ISO Speed 80
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Dpaul7

I received this one as a gift.  I am aware there are many fakes of these; I read a number of articles.  Please indicate what makes you suspicious of THIS particular specimen.  That way I will know WHAT to watch for.  Are there ANY real mosasaur jaws for sale? :meg:

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Kane

The actual jaw is likely composited, most commonly of goat bone. From what I have read, it is rare to find mosasaur jaws intact with their teeth. 

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Dpaul7

Interesting!  I had read about a FEW things to look for; this one seemed OK from what I had read.   I do imagine at this point it is a composite... and I will list it as such. 

I have a few changes to make, it seems!

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Anomotodon

Unfortunately, there is nothing individual about this jaw - hundreds of practically identical specimens are made and sold in Morocco. Jaw itself could be made either from real Moroccan bones or from something modern. Tooth crowns are real though, you can try to extract them as discussed in the topic below.

Real Moroccan Mosasaur jaws are not so rare, there are just numerically more fake ones.

 

 

 

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