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The jaw is from the phosphates of oued zem and measures 40cm more or less. It's a juvenile thalassotitan atrox or it's another species? Thanks! @Praefectus @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

Recently purchased this at a local show. It looks good to me I just want to double check.

Hello! This is my first post so be gentle I have a vertebrae from Morocco here that i cant seem to figure out. The owner of the collection I'm examining recalls purchasing it from Morocco, but doesn't recall if it comes from the Kem Kem beds or from the High Atlas Mountains. After some dusting and light acetone cleaning was able to determine that it is in fact a vertebra, but I'm not sure of the species, as the piece is slightly deformed and lacks processes. My best guess so far is a sauropod caudal vertebra, possibly Rebbachisaurus, but I'm having difficulty in finding any reputable sources that would confirm this. I could also understand if it came from a large theropod, but has lost its shape due to deformation. Sadly, most of my expertise is with Hell Creek fossils, so I'd really appreciate any help that can be offered Lastly, if the piece is of any significance (undescribed or poorly described species) it will most likely be donated to the local museum! So that would be cool. Thanks again!

The past few weeks at the Tucson Fossil I ran across a few fake Spinosaur claws but also was surprised how many good ones there were on the market. I also understand the issues with online claws so decided to put this topic out to help collectors gain a better understanding of them since they are very expensive. These are my opinions and welcome others since no one person as all the answers. There is no bullet proof approach you can take to insure you have a claw that is not totally fake or composited. There are some things you need to consider. - First try dealing with what I call preferred Moroccan merchants, those are typically found at big shows and a few have online or FB sites, ones that specialize in Moroccan material are the best. They typically know what to look for and can point out issues with claws. Makes life a bit harder to get one but you want a good claw don't you. This does not take you off the hook its still YOUR responsibility to know what you are buying. - Unless you are an expert never buy one from Auction site. If you see one that interest you see seek assistant from an expert, not a collector friend, or post it here on the forum we have lots of opinions here. - 2D photos are not always the best to see what is going on with a claw, I prefer handling one. Composited claws can be good and photos don't show you all the issues. - Good preservation and quality are key for making life easy in deciding if its a good claw or not. There is where it pays to focus on the better claws. Claws that are deformed, partial, compressed, beat up or have matrix on them are very difficult to insure you have a good one and especially hard for experts to positively say its good. It always best to save and wait to buy a higher end one. - As a general rule try avoid claws that have matrix glued on them or have seams with matrix. The matrix is there for only one reason to hid trouble. Matrix is a red flag, just tread carefully when looking at one of these. Ask yourself why risk it and buy a potentially problem claw, there are plenty out there that are clean. PRICE = Preservation (Quality) + Size - Repairs - Real claws are expensive, simple as that. So if you see inexpensive big claws there must be a reason unless its the deal of a century and they exist. Most of the claws I show are in the 1-2K range for 4-6 inches. Here are a few from the Tucson show to give you an understanding what real ones look like. Focus on shape, the articulation end, blood grooves and preservation. These two are clean no matrix, no compression may have been broken and reattached, reasonable preservation. Nice claws for any collection Higher Grade - Fatter, nice surface finish, good preservation, few if any repairs. Couple of more examples. Honest merchant shows, some repair and resto. Excellent high end claw around 7 inches very very expensive Fake Claws These two were laying in the box and the merchant said he just had them fabricated. They look pretty good to a novice both reasonable size and configuration. Probably copied from a good one. Red Flags : Check out the graining its does not follow the curve of the claw but is straight. Uniform Color and looks too clean. Finish is flat with no hit of sheen seen on bone. Super long ones are the most suspect, here are two in a box. Unusually long and thin, usually the dorsal curvature is not smooth to the tip has kinks, the preservation is odd, hard to see bone, lots of surface repairs. These may be composited, faked or combo? Who knows to risky to find out. Off an auction site - terrible fake easier to spot- 6.9 inch claw One of the hardest items to replicate is the blood groove that is on either side of the claw. The groove is the widest at the articulation end and slowly tapers to a point to form a channel at the tip that extends outward beyond the dorsal surface. Here is an example of a perfectly preserved one. Here is the tip of the claw from above and you can see the blood groove is just a channel in the claw. Another Characteristic on these claws is that when looked at from the top or bottom they are shaped like an isosceles triangle. Much bigger at the articulation end than the tip. Preservation may affect this but most should be tapered. Like most theropods, hand claws vary depending on digit so there will be variations depending on that and the number of different Spinosaurids that exist in Kem Kem. This is a big unknown and we believe these type of claws all belong to the Spinosaurid family. But here are a couple more you can check out the blood grooves, articulation and shape More Examples of Fake Hand Claws: Bottom side is not a smooth curve, blood groove changes size, surface finish is odd not bonelike Carved but with an very poorly shaped deep blood groove Carved in multiple sections and shape is off, front end should not be that curved Photo provided by Jim Kirkland Carved, Composited etc Badly carved claw The following are all carved, examine how poorly the blood grooves are made.

Dear All, One of the first fossils I acquired (this year) was a small Mosasaur jaw piece from Morocco. The dealer who I bought it from wasn't entirely sure of the species but carefully suggested it was Mosasaurus beaugei. Having now seen some teeth of M. beaugei, I'm not at all certain this identification is correct Rather, to my untrained eye, it seems to match more closely with some examples of Eremiasaurus heterodontus teeth I've found online. I'm far from an expert, however, so any help would be much appreciated! I have no exact location for where the piece was found, other than 'Spanish Sahara Morocco'. The teeth are between 22 and 26 mm long. Kind regards, Nick

Hello, all. I obtained this gorgeous little trilobite in one of my best-ever haggling deals in Agadir a few years back. The names keep changing, so first of all, am I right in thinking this is now the genus Belenopyge? Or is it Acanthopyge (Belenopyge)? And is the species bassei or estevei? Hypostome? Thanks for taking a look and extra thanks for any constructive or friendly comments. Scott @piranha , Kane @Kane?

Purchased these two little friends in Alnif and unfortunately I can't find the information about them (species, locale). I think I remember the black one from the Ordovician or Devonian, and possibly the other from the Fezouata Formation. Perhaps someone here will know more. I know the black one was prepped personally by the seller in Alnif and I think he did the other as well. I'm going to keep looking as I was sure I recorded the info somewhere.

Hi guys, I bring you this new topic regarding this 8cm Spinosaurus sp. claw. Do you think it's real or fare? I rely on you who are certainly more prepared than me ahahahahah. Thank you very much!

Hello, I have the collection from Morocco. The information from the locals, Species: Polypodiopsida? Age: Carboniferous? Locatily: Aghejoun meknes, Morocco (Atlas) Thank you

This trilobite was gifted to me by a family member who was in Morocco. I have doubts about its authenticity

Hi all, A friend in North Carolina has this (among many other) box of bones from Morocco that need some sort of ID or general push in the right direction. I haven't been staring at bones long enough to make sense of these, but the tray they're sitting in is 15 inches long. My own personal uneducated guess is that I see some metacarpals and other small hand bones, a metatarsal or two, etc. , but I welcome outside opinion. I have my eye on the one top right, first in the group of 3 so I'm especially curious about that one. Mahalo!

When visiting the region of Erfoud in Morocco, we got some years ago a very unusual starfish. Devonian chalk, perhaps the layers with Cupressocrinites? Do not exactly know. It looks like Helianthaster, but there has nothing been published about starfishes like this one. What do you think? Does anyone know this starfish or has new literature about them? Size is around 10 - 12 cm (original diameter)

Hi. Friend of my got this trilobite, but I know these kind are often faked. I have never looked for this type of triobites so I was hoping someone would have more experience with these. Any opinions? Thank you.

I recently spotted a Palaeophis vertebra for sale, labelled as having come from a Palaeophis typhaeus. The vertebra was found in the Ouled Abdoun basin in Morocco and is Ypresian in age. I have only every seen Palaeophis maghrebianus vertebrae for sale, so I was wondering if this was a mistaken ID. Thanks in advance for confirmation Othniel

Hi all, Looking at purchasing this tooth. To me it looks like a transitional morphology between O. obliqus and P. Orientalis, but would like a second opinion. Thanks in advance.

@jnoun11 @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Could this tooth be stelladens? I have no idea what species it is but the carinae on the side makes me wonder if it's Stelladens

Hello, Can you help me with ID of this tooth? I am not sure whether it could be Carcharodontosaurid or something else? I bought it at a fossil show, Its supposed to be from Morocco, Kem kem group, Taouz. Scale is in cm. Measurements: CH - 2,8cm, CBL - 1,6cm, AL - 3cm and CBW - 0,8cm. Thanks in advance.

Hi there fossil collectors, this is my very first tooth, could someone please confirm this is an authentic spinosaurus tooth! thanks guys!