Search the Community

Good Evening Everyone, After reviewing the two topics I saw on spinosaurus claws I still find myself questioning my own identification of these two spinosaurus claws. I was wondering if any of you more experienced forum goers could give these a look and help me verify if they are real? Thank you for any support

Hi, i have an opportunity to buy these items which are marked as spinosaurus neural spine bones - do you guys agree? I think its quite hard to ID but could be actually a good specimen.. Found @ Taouz Morocco Thanks in advance! 🙂

Hi, I bought this Spinosaurus fossil tooth. Do you guys think this fossil is legitimate and also do you have any other opinions on it ? Thank u 🙏

The seller knows nothing about this one. Anyone thinks it is good to acquire?

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.

So you want to buy a Spinosaurus Claw? Then this might help you. This is a guide I wanted to set up for a while to help others in finding and buying a real claw. Its mostly focused on new collectors. I have noticed recently many people are searching and ending up with fake claws. This made me upset, and I wanted to reach out, and hopefully safe some people from this trap. A disclaimer: this is based on my experiences and opinions, by no means im a Paleontologist or do I know everything, but since I have started collecting, I have been obsessed with searching for claws, and you learn allot along the way, and by talking to other fanatics and sharing information. The photos I have used are from the past, taken from the web , the forum, or auction platforms, or personal. Special thanks to some members on this forum who have helped and still help me with sharing they knowledge. At this moment there are more fake claws than real claws to be find online and in stores. This is very important to know. Its very problematic. And its a big business. Im focussing in this topic specifically on 'Spinosaurids' Handclaws from Marokko. Keep in mind a real claw is very expensive, we cannot talk about prices here , but im just stating , finding a good real claw cheap is like winning the lottery. Also keep in mind a claw is much much more rare then a tooth. The Spinosaurus had only 3 of them on each hand. While it shed tooth and regrown them its whole life span, this is why a Spinosaurus tooth is not so expensive and rare. Another thing to keep remembering, do not trust any dealer / or seller blindly, I have seen fake claws being sold by dealers who have a good reputation. Im not at all saying they did it on purpose. Its up to you to educate yourself enough to know what your doing. Also do not fall for the trap of 'with authenticity documents' it does not mean anything, and can be made by anyone. Key things that are very difficult to imitate are the bloodgroves, running from both sides, and the bone structure, that runs around and follows curve of the claw, and the general shape of the claw. Finding a complete unrestored claw is even rarer, most of them have a missing tip, or back end, much like Dinosaur teeth also, the tip is very fragille, and usually restored, or glued together. Complete ones are very rare. There is also something to say on what of the three claws your dealing with , the tumb claw is the most valuable and thickest so the most wanted , they can be massive. The bigger the claw the higher the price, its as simple as that. Im dividing this topic in 6 sections with photos, what to look for, what to run away from. Ill start with the bad, going down to the best. Mostly highlighting the traps. 1 - fake composite claws the most common 2 - Carved bone caws 3 - partially fake composite claws (very misleading and dangerous 4 - poorly preserved, but real claws 5 - restored enhanced claws 6 - real claws 1. Here we have some examples of fake composited claws. There are tons of them on the web, Ive selected a few of them to make the point. Look at the wierd curved shape, horrible! another very bad composed one , look at the awe full non smooth shape And here a pretty common thing you see with fake composed claws, they sure parts of bone in their creation , to make it appear real, bellow I've marked were Another bad example, notice the overdone bloodgroves, clearly made by man. Ive quickly marked some parts where you can see random parts of bone have been added. 2. Ok so now we move on to carved from bone claws. Ive highlighted one specific one that was pretty misleading. It looked almost to perfect, and they had managed to more or less let the bone structure follow up curve of the claw. Ive almost ended up buying this claw (luckily I did not) the week after the seller had posted an almost identical , proving even more it was a fake the chance of having two claws that are almost identical is 0 in ? . Looking back at it, I think its made from multiple bone parts shifted to make it appear that it follows the curve, the shape is also to perfect to be real. They also ad these cracks with some filler, to give it a more authentic appeal ! look out for these. Here al two other carved bone claws. For the untrained eye, real, because you see 'bone' its very misleading and dangerous, a complete fake. Ive made some markings, showing the straight line of the bone structure. This should have been curved , following the curve of the claw. Another thing to notice is the almost perfect unnatural shape, especially the back end. The cracks they add on purpose to make them appeal authentic. 100% fake. One more: Again spot the straight line structure. 3. Ok so now I move on to partially fake composite claws (very misleading and dangerous) it contains parts of a real claw, but its overall fake. Ive highlighted one claw as a clear example. Notice a small part of the middle area to be real, and the tip also, they have kept these parts and added composite around it, to make it appear as an a authentic claw. 4. Now we move on to poorly preserved, but real claws. A choice of the buyer whether you want to invest in this or not. It can be nice if the price is good. Usually the price is for these are almost the same as other real claws though. But at least you are not buying a fake. A very nice and huge tumb claw , it clearly shows the bone structure following up the curve of the claw. It also shows us a clear mark were it was broken and fixed back together with filler and glue. In my opinion still very nice to have. A large authentic claw, but it has allot of hard matrix still attached to it. This can be dangerous if you are not knowing what to look for. Notice the bone structure small holls, and the bloodgrove. And last a small but real handclaw, a bit poorly preserved. 5 - Ok now we take a look at Restored enhanced claws, these can be tricky also. A fair seller should provide you with a before and after photo. If you are OK with it, you can move along, but know its not an authentic complete claw. They make them apear bigger, better, etc. Personally I always prefer authentic. Photo of the claw as it has been found. Here is an example of a before and after. The same claw after the restoration? Can you recognize it? Also notice the redish color batch they add to cover up the resto. Another example bellow of a real claw that has been restored, and colored the same way. Hard to say what the original would have looked. And last another one were I have marked the real part, and most likely the complete tip has been restored. 6. And then we Finally move on to the REAL claws Here we see a very fine example of a middle sized claw Notice the beautiful bone structure, the small holes, and the flawless color, and the bloodgrove. Another nice example, completely authentic with some filler. Very nice example. Good tip and back end. Two other very nicely preserved examples, with the typical Kem Kem colorization. Another nice one I think its the middle claw of the hand. It has been cracked in three parts but clearly visible and real. Another example, it shows a clear bone structure, blood grove etc. These things are very hard to imitate. So there we go , Hope this helps some collectors! I might edit some along the way. Apologies for some typo errors it might contain. English is not my native language.

This vertebra is being sold as a Spinosaurus cervical vertebra, according to the seller it has a few restorations including a transverse process. Comparing it to other Spinosaurus cervical vertebrae I notice the holes on the sides of the centrum are missing as well as the downward pointing transverse processes for the cervical ribs. Instead it has lateral pointing transverse processes which doesn't fit the morphology of a cervical vertebra. Could this be a dorsal vertebra instead or a composite of a cervical and dorsal vertebra? Also, are there any more restorations on it that are incorrect? @jpc@LordTrilobite Location: Ifezouane Fm, Taouz, South Morocco Size: 27cm x 19cm (10.6" x 7.5")

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!

Can anybody tell me if this is real I bought this tooth for my youngest kid and was told the site I used was reputable the site did say it had some repairs can anyone help me out thanks in advance.

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!

Hi, I know very little of fossils and bought these two spinosaurus teeth (did not pay much). Said to be from Kem kem. Afterwards I have realized that there are a lot of fake teeth on the market. One of the teeth I bought looks nice but maybe it has been repaired? The other one looks not so nice. Is it a mixture of sand and glue on it? Gluing three pieces together. Or can a tooth look like this when it is found? Even if they have been repaired and/or glued, they are still real fossils right? Both are about 2.5 inch. /Johan

Composted tip at the darker end right? also is the missing enamel spot on the side of the tip filled?

Location is kem kem beds, seller said less than 5% restoration. I know nothing about claws but this one almost looks too good to be true and too perfect but I’m not sure how to definitively tell if it’s real or fake

7 inches long, seller stated it has repairs but no restoration. He said the root is from the original tooth, the root looks suspect but I’m no expert

Hello everyone i just joined, i got a question are these real spinosaurus claw? (Thumb claw) found it on a website that was registered to AAPS

Considering saving up for this tooth. 104MM in length KemKem group, Taouz Morocco Really not sure on the root

This is being sold as a Spinosaurus premaxillary jaw from the Kem Kem, but I'm suspicious. Any opinions? And if not Spinosaurus, what could it be? Size 23 cm / 9.06 inch

Hi, can anyone tell me if this bone could be the scapula of a Spinosaurus? The fossil has not been manipulated, i think. Some Info: Origin: Morocco Dinosaur: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Dimensions: 33×24×4 cm

I was wondering if these spinosaurus. teeth were actually plesiosaur teeth? I got them from a auction site labeled as spinosaurus teeth.

Every year at the Denver fossil show it seems like I pick up some unidentified Kem Kem material. This is because for one it’s cheap, but also because it’s kinda fun to investigate this material. Here are eight pieces I picked up as a bulk set. I have some idea about identification on each of these but would love to hear other’s input. In the following pictures I have the top row being archosaur fossils and the bottom row being fish fossils. My guesses: 1. Caudal(?) vertebra centrum. Croc or theropod, but probably croc. 2. Croc dorsal vertebra 3. Croc centrum 4. Theropod pedal phalanx. Specifically, the distal-most phalanx of toe 1 (the “dew claw”). Narrowest ID I think I could guess we would be Ceratosauria indet., should probably be labeled as Theropoda indet. 5. Two fused fish vertebrae. Are these identifiable any more than this? 6. Gar or gar-like vertebra 7. Chondrichthyan fish vertebra. Maybe Onchoptistis numida? Can that determination even be made? 8. A gigantic ganoid scale. Any guesses just based on size? I’m unfamiliar with all the monster fish in this rock unit. Thanks :)

Hi everyone! I am offering two of my better spinosaurus indet. teeth from the KemKem group, Morocco. I am looking for other theropod teeth myself. Perhaps a more rooted spinosaurus. Just no stuff from Niger. The red one is 6 centimeter. This one is 11.4 centimeter

Came across this tooth on the internet. Although not my own interest, it does make an interesting conversation. How much of this tooth is real? It's 7,5 inches in length. Spinosaurid.

Hi, do you think this Spinosaurus Tooth is legit ?