Search the Community

This is another update from one of my older posts where we questioned whether or not my dinosaur track slate is authentic or fake. A reliable friend helped me out with this mission. A lot of controversy was behind this fossil. This thick paint/polish applied to these rocks makes it very difficult to determine what is actually is. I decided to completely start from scratch and remove all paint. When I purchased these tracks, I knew little to nothing about these matters...Now I want to share this post to help anyone else who is interested in buying a dinosaur track online to avoid deception. You have to be very careful. ONLY BUY FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE. Please ask for as many pictures as possible from different angles from the seller and ask as many questions as possible. Locality, who, when, background, etc. There should be no reason why the seller wouldn’t be more than happy to help. When I see that thick polish/paint applied to the tracks, I avoid those listings like the plague, because it usually means something’s off, at least from my experience (others agree). Also note that listings with muliple tracks on one rock is subject to even greater suspicion. More the reason to ask questions and request better pictures. With these being sold I see two strategies played out: 1.) The seller takes a rock with one or two real tracks, and then paints on other fakes to deceive you into thinking, “oh...well this track on the left is clearly a footprint, So the other ones painted must be too...I just don’t see it as much.” And 2.) The seller takes rocks that are similar shale, etc. and paints any groove that looks like a toe, paints another one, and there you have it...a “footprint”. Before you know it, you have 20 small, medium, and large completely fabricated tracks on one rock...all fake. But back to my fossil, below are pictures of the process from beginning to end. I still have a little more work to do, but the fossil already looks much better. I dedicated 2 hours to the cleaning. A lot of scrubing. I was happy to find that the Eubrontes track was authentic. Unfortunately the other tracks, not so much. There may be something else there.. but not sure...doubtful. If there are any, they’re definitely not as evident as the Eubrontes. What I used to remove the paint: 1.) Goo Gone (does a great job for cleaning bones and other fossils in general without leaving any marks or damage, great suggestion by @DPS Ammonite). I suggest the spray. Reason being because it’s easier to apply with one hand and scrub with the other. 2.) One roll of paper towels, or rags ( but be prepared to use a ton of rags). I personally did what I can with the paper towels and then used the rags towards the end to give it a better scrub. If anyone has any other questions please privately DM me. I encourage It. I can advise further in terms of where to avoid.

Totally unintentional. I decided to buy this cushion-like material for safely displaying my allosaurus bone on its stand. Backfired on me because I found out that my fossil was sticking to this material. Most of it peeled off fine, but there is some residue left over. Could anyone please tell me the safest way to take the rest off? It’s not a matter of scratching it off, the stuff sticks very well.

Hello! I just recently received some long awaited fossils in the mail the other day, and due to issues in shipping my Spinosaurus tooth had arrived broken. Luckily it was only a small portion of the tip and it is a rather clean break so I hope to repair it. The only issue is I've read many testimonies on how I should go about doing so. Some suggested that I use Gorilla Glue or wood glue and the list can go on and on. But then others claim these can damage the fossil? I am wondering what kind of glue should I use or how I should go about fixing this tooth? Thank you in advance!