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Showing results for tags 'mosasaur'.
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Mosasaur jaws, a cautionary tale
Aurelius posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
I took delivery of this jaw today. I bought it over the weekend, having seen it and been offered a reasonable price on it. The initial pictures I saw were of very poor quality (the one above is mine), and it looked relatively convincing. In further photos, it also looked pretty convincing. The seller, I should point out, was not an expert or commercial seller, he was someone who'd bought it a few years ago and now wanted rid of it. Some of you are probably looking at the photo above and thinking to yourselves 'that's not at all convincing, what were you thinking?', and you'd be right to think that, since all of the teeth are fake (or rather, the roots are fake and the crowns were composited in). I've been collecting these jaws for several years, and I really should have known better. Dodgy photos or not, something doesn't look right about the alignment of the teeth or the shape of the roots. I let my enthusiasm get the better of me, as a result of which I splurged money I could ill-afford on something which is mostly faked. The jaw bone is entirely real, but there's not an awful lot of jaw to speak of. That said, it wasn't very expensive and is, if nothing else, an interesting piece of ethnographic art, and far better than those dismal $25 fakes that you see everywhere. One of the things that helped convince me was the tooth on the far left, which I felt looked quite realistic: The teeth on the right are less so, with roots which bulge in every direction, which appear to end at the point where they touch the matrix, and which in one area appear to be smudged on top of the jaw bone. They aren't the worst fakes I have ever seen, but they aren't great either. Up close they appear to be the usual mix of brown-ish plaster and sand. I post this as a warning, really. If you're ever unsure, post it here before buying, if only for a sanity check. You don't necessarily need to be a newbie to make a newbie error (although it helps if, like me, you're an idiot).
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Dear all, I started this new topic to receive your help in identify those teeth. I bought them many, many years ago as crocodile teeth. I do not remember exactly, but maybe I bought the bigger one in Morocco (not sure!). Today I would say that are mosasaur teeth. Crocodile or mosasaur? Thank you!
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I have been offered this mosasaur jaw section, and am looking for some information on what parts may actually be here. There are two sections of jaw (the one on top very thin, which makes me wonder if it may be a pterygoid jaw?), although the bones on the right confuse me - are they part of the back of the skull? I'm not sure quite what to make of it, since it's not what you normally see. Based on this picture (the only one I have) I would say that the teeth have been butchered, but this blurry photo is all I have to go on. Any comments on the piece would be welcomes. I shall tag @LordTrilobite since he is very good at these things!
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While I was cleaning up my room, I came across this drawing of a rather elongated and serpentine Tylosaurus in my seventh-grade school binder. Thought that I could give it some light here. This drawing is unfinished, but I'm not an expert in handling antique documents.
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Purchased this one from an auction site for fairly cheap. I'm sure actual tooth is real but is the root matrix real as well especially if coming from Morocco? Thanks!
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“Mosasaur” Skull - Real or Fake?
Narwabicorn posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
Bought this skull a couple years ago at a gem show. It seemed that the seller wasn’t even sure what it was themself, but claimed it might be a mosasaur skull. It was the only one they had and the rest of the stuff they sold was teeth from North Africa such as Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus teeth. There are some parts that make it look real to me but if it is real, I’m not sure what it would be from.
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Dear fellow forum goers, These past few weeks have been quite busy, but that has not stopped me from going on the occasional fossil excursion. A few trips went by since my last posting and I decided to let some trips accumulate before posting again. On these trips I interacted with forum members @Woopaul5 and @frankh8147. The most recent trip was today, 08/12/18, and was somewhat productive. Frank found what we believe to be a part of a mosasaur brain case, which will surely be in his "finds of the year list". I was not as luck but ended up scoring a small point fragment and a jaw section of some fish. There were also some nice quality teeth that I found today. Other than this trip, I scored some nice finds on a few other trips throughout the two months. I hope you enjoy the finds, as I enjoyed finding them, and have a nice day. Kind regards, Trevor Overall Finds Stream Worn Shark's Teeth
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Hi! Any help I can get with identifying these mosasaur teeth would be much appreciated , or if someone can provide me with some good links/pictures on how to identify them. They are all from Khouribga phosphate mines. They are small teeth ( 20-30 mm) and not in top notch condition but still it would be fun to know what kind of species they belong to. I´ve numbered the teeth to make it easier to describe what tooth your talking about. Thanks/Patrik
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I bought a chunk of sediment from Morroco from a fossil dealer a couple of months ago and I found some shark teeth, shark vertebra and this mosasaur tooth. What’s really interesting is that it’s extremely small. It’s a little bit bigger than my pinkie nail. Could this be a baby mosasaur tooth. (Note that I had some repair done to it.)
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Hello, I recently found this bone fragment in Monmouth County New Jersey (Cretaceous) and was wondering if anyone knew what it was. My best guess is a Mosasaur tooth socket but the bone texture looked off to me. For comparison, the last picture is of the fossil in question compared to prior finds which were identified as Mosasaur tooth sockets. As always, all help is greatly appreciated!
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Hey all, I recently picked up a mosasaur tooth, relatively large (2 inches) at a local rock and minerals store. It was for a great price, but from my standpoint it seems too good to be true. Some help here would be much appreciated
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I once went to a rock shop in Utah a few months back and they had a wooden box with Moroccan mosasaur teeth in it. Most of them had no tip and kids were messin with the teeth causing more damage. I rescued this one and got the tip to and repaired it. However, I see a similarity of the tooth to one I saw in Kansas that belonged to Platecarpus. Could this tooth be a Platecarpus tooth from Morocco?
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Globidens tooth with strange repair...
Deinocheirusmaster! posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
I bought this tooth from a fossil dealer in Utah 2 years ago. I then somehow after that time noticed a strange mark on the bottom of the tooth where it attaches to the root and that there’s a sand like line going across the middle of the tooth. Could this be repair or fabricated teeth I’m seeing?
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Real juvenile Mosasaur jaw?
crumpet the ichthyosaur posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
I have been looking at this fossil to purchase for my collection and I am paranoid that, like many other Morrocan Mosasaur jaw fossils, this could have faked elements. I was wondering if anyone could spot anything wrong with this fossil.
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Is this a real Globidens Aegyptiacus Mosasaur jaw specimen? As I am fully aware there are many fake Mosasaur jaws on the market where the bone is made from plaster and the matrix from composite sand. I was wondering if any body could confirm this for me?
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I found this halisaurus premax on the favorite auction site. It's pretty cool, one associated tooth is still in place in the front. But just underneath the premax the matrix is filled with shark verts. Does this association mean anything? I find it odd that a mosasaur jaw ended up on top of a bunch of shark verts.....is there a chance the two animals died combating each other?
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The attached paper describes the partial and complete skulls of the mosasaur Tylosaurus proriger from the Niobrara Formation of Kansas https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/vamp/index.php/VAMP/article/view/29339
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PART 1, acquisition This piece was acquired via the "for sale" section of the Forum. The seller, @Fitch1979, Dries offered several jaw specimens, which were clearly superior to the mostly spurious Internet auction site examples. Dries provided some provenance on the fossil. It had resided in his family's private collection for over 26 years. It had been purchased at a gem and mineral show in Ghent from a collector who acquired the specimen in 1978. After a pleasant exchange with Dries, a bargain was struck and the specimen shipped on December 9, 2017. Since the piece was located in Belgium, arrival involved a seemingly interminable wait. Finally, the tracking indicated arrival at US Customs on December 29th. Then the real wait ensued. The tracking was not updated until January 22, 2018. At that time notice was given that the package had been turned over to the "postal operator." Curiously, it arrived on my SC doorstep that very day! It was a surprise to open the door and find the huge (shipping weight 28 lbs.) shipping box resting there. Here is the image posted to the Forum offering the fossil for sale. ...to be continued
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Hey all. I’ve got a couple of quick newbie questions. My wife, who luckily is supportive of this new hobby of mine, decided to surprise me with some fossils from a reputable dealer to help jumpstart my collection, among them this Mosasaur tooth. I’ve not got any questions about it’s species (Prognathodon sp. if I’ve been reading all these posts I’ve been looking at right), and everything about it looks real. What I’m wondering is. A.) What are these two little circular inclusions in the matrix that I’ve circled? There’s one on each side, and they don’t look like natural rock. Fish vert maybe? And B.) Is there anything special I should do to help preserve this piece, as the climate here in Kentucky is vastly different from its original Moroccan home? I’ve read some people add fixatives, some don’t, some do on certain pieces. I just want to make sure that this piece which has lasted for millions of years lasts more than a few more. Thanks for all your help.
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From the album: New Jersey Late Cretaceous
Mosasaurus sp. Wenonah Formation Late Cretaceous Ramanessin Brook, Monmouth County, NJ -
From the album: New Jersey Late Cretaceous
Mosasaurus conodon Wenonah Formation Late Cretaceous Ramanessin Brook, Monmouth County, NJ -
From the album: New Jersey Late Cretaceous
Mosasaurus maximus Wenonah Formation Late Cretaceous Ramanessin Brook, Monmouth County, NJ -
I got this tooth as a freebie when I bought some fossils a while ago. I know it's a mosasaur tooth of some description and my guess would be Prognathodon sp. based on how common they are, but I'd like confirmation (if possible) for my own peace of mind. I know it's not easy ID'ing based on tooth crowns, but hope springs eternal. The tooth is about 3.5 cm long.
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Red Flag on Moroccan Material
Troodon posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
Some very large +5" Rooted Mosasaur teeth and Jaws are being offered for sale. The crowns appear to have been reattached and may be a composite. This is not your typical white fill that you normally see from Morocco but a darker blend to be more natural and not stand out. Typical of the type of work that you now see coming from Spain. Unfortunately there is no mention of any repair done to these items. More reason to me even more attentive with any Moroccan material. Use caution if interested and post your desires here before you purchase A sampling of the teeth being offered..... Tooth 2 Tooth 3.thumb.jpg.9917887913ab728374cb5b6afd60f4cf.jpg)
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