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Ancient Fossil That Baffled Scientists For Decades Finally Reveals Its True Identity, Michelle Starr, Nature, February 16, 2024 280-Million-Year-Old Mystery Solved As Forged Fossil's "Skin" Identified As Paint The "soft tissues" of this partial forgery were painted on, but it isn't a total fake. Rachael Funnell, IFL Science, February 16, 2024 The open access paper is; Rossi, V., Bernardi, M., Fornasiero, M., Nestola, F., Unitt, R., Castelli, S. and Kustatscher, E. (2024), Forged soft tissues revealed in the oldest fossil reptile from the early Permian of the Alps. Palaeontology, 67: e12690. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12690 Yours, Paul H.

Hey all A number of years ago I bought this fish fossil and I've never done any digging to find out more about it - until now. This was my 2nd or 3rd fossil I ever bought, it came from a small rock/crystal shop that sells a small selection of fossils. It only had one detail on it when I bought it and that was (if memory serves) it's from the Devonian Period Yep, it's painted... like a lot are. My very inexperienced eye at the time didn't notice that until after I got it home and had a close look at it. The amount of detail is incredible, unfortunately the camera doesn't do it justice. Can anyone offer more information on this fish with the very limited info I gave? Genus? Likely find location? Cheers Gareth

Hi, These crinoids from Morocco look very nice with the good contrast of the red matrix. My question is if the seller has enhanced the red colour of the red matrix with paint or is his red colour the real and natural colour? I hope that anyone with experience can advice me in this. Thank you.

Hey all, I have a Green River fish I purchased many years ago. The bones mostly seem well preserved, but the fins at least (and likely all of it) was painted a dark brown and then some sort of a sealant was applied. The matrix is different from the usual split fish material, it is more like a hard sandstone (much more sturdy than the split fish layer) and it is a brownish color. Likely the fish was painted to "improve" contrast with the dark matrix. I would like to remove the paint and restore the fish to its natural condition. I have soaked it in acetone for hours (in a fume hood of course) and that removed the sealant but the paint is almost untouched. Does anyone know what kind of paint commercial dealers use (or used to use 30 years ago) and how to remove it? Don

Hi everyone, are parts of this Knightia painted? Bought from a pretty reputable dealer, not a dubious random online seller.

Hello all. I am looking into getting a nice decorative crinoid fossil without breaking my budget. I was considering getting one of the Moroccan ones that are commonly painted for contrast, then washing the paint off. I know these aren't very often completely faked, but are often composited. I have a couple that I am looking at and just wanted to check if they are genuine, and how much (if any) is composite. I would also like to know if you all think they will turn out nice once the paint is removed. I included pictures of two, labeled fossil A and fossil B. Sorry for the blurry photos, it's all the seller provided. Let me know what you think. Thank you!!

I have a 1/4" slab of ? I have no clue what it is. It looks like jasper or agate? It is solid considering how thin it is.

Hello everyone, I'm an Italian amateur collector with a small but nice collection of fossils and minerals that I started when I was 5yo in 1995. Then at 15yo I put apart my passion until few days ago when, using my 3D printer, I made some nice modular drawer to reorder in my collection of +-1000 pieces. I will finish the project in the next weeks and I will share it with you, as it can be of inspiration for your collection as well. Doing this hard work, I looked with a more mature point of view some big fossils that my parents and friends (not experts!) gave me as present many years ago. I already noticed that some are painted or assembled, but I would like to hear your opinion about them. #1 Let's start with a good one. This was a present from my mom, so I know she spent not few moneys to buy this fossil fish. I think that it 99% real. My only concern is the right side/section of the matrix that has a change in color (you can see it in the video). Maybe just a not-too-bad restoration... I drew circles around fishes with the pencil when I was a child... I should delete them! #2 Now a bad one... In this example I noticed that maybe the fish body is real (but low quality), it is mounted on a new matrix, and fins are painted... Am I right? #3 Another bad one... This ammonoidea seems painted. The matrix has some fossil shells, it is cracked and repaired (you can see the crack in the video, back side). I'm wondering if it is totally fake/sculpted or only painted. What do you think? #4 The last assembled fossil fish. This one is funny! Sedimentary layers are not parallel with the fossil... Overall I think that the body is real but bad preserved and with some painting. What do you think? #5 This was one of the first fossils of my collection. I personally bought it in Morocco in 1995. I think that this is a real one, joint is perfect. Agree with me? #6 Finally, the last piece: a cambropallas trilobite. About this one, I know that it was bought in a good shop and I think it is not too bad. I'm not sure about the matrix (see the back side), but the main body seems real. It, of course, has some restorations. I'm looking to hear from you. Final thoughts... I'm considering giving away false ones, in particular #2, #3 and #4. But it is also nice to have them to show how fossils are faked/retouched - I think they're part of the amateur paleontology history. I hope you appreciate the photos/videos I took to show some of my fossils. Thanks in advance and best regards!

I recently purchased this 3.5 inch spinosaurus tooth online, but have some concerns it may be painted. I was told by the previous owner that when checked under microscope, it appeared to have some glue in the cracks, possibly just to keep them from spreading but did not appear to have any full break repairs. However to me, the colour looks too consistent, and the colour leaks into the center on top as though painted. Thoughts?