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I found this unlabelled tooth I believe to be a spinosaurid. I only have one photo. I am deciding whether to buy it or not.

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.

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

Hello, saw this for sale and was wondering whether it was croc or spinosaurid, it’s from Morocco, Africa. I’m leaning towards spinosaurid, but I’m not an expert. Please also let me know if there is any repairs/restro. Thanks a lot!

A Spanish association announced today a find of a new Baryonychine. Dario Estraviz Lopez said "its going to be a new Iberian Spinosaurid almost as complete as the holotype of Baryonyx." Very cool and might provide more insights into these dinosaurs.

A friend sent me these pics of a claw that interests him. These are all the pics we have for now, and it's only identified as "Spinosaurid, Niger". The source says that the area in green is restored with carved bone, but it looks all carved to me. What think the group? Thanks!

I was given these teeth by a friend many many years ago and they were identified as plesiosaur teeth. They are from Niger, Africa. I looked and found no record of plesiosaurs ever being found in Niger. I also did a bit of compairing with other plesiosaur teeth and found no match. One of them looks to me to be from a suchomimus or some other spinosaur (judging by the grooves on the tooth). The other two look to be from some sort of crocodyloform, possibly stolokrosuchus.

Hi, I find a strange bone in the boxes from Morocco. I don’t know what it is. Suddenly, I think it may be a phalange of Spinosaurid. I took pictures of it. Please check the attached files. Thank you. Size: 15 X 4 X 4 cm Top side: Right side: Bottom side: Left side: Back side:

A new spinosaurid dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous of Cinctorres (Spain) Abstract A new spinosaurid genus and species is described based on the right maxilla and five caudal vertebrae of a single specimen from the Arcillas de Morella Formation (Early Cretaceous) at the locality of Cinctorres (Castellón, Spain). Protathlitis cinctorrensis gen. et sp. nov. is diagnosed by one autapomorphic feature as well as by a unique combination of characters. The autapomorphy includes a subcircular depression in the anterior corner of the antorbital fossa in the maxilla. The new Iberian species is recovered as a basal baryonychine. The recognition of Protathlitis cinctorrensis gen. et sp. nov. as the first baryonychine dinosaur species identified from the Arcillas de Morella Formation (late Barremian) from the same time as Vallibonavenatrix cani, the first spinosaurine dinosaur from the same formation in the Morella subbasin (Maestrat Basin, eastern Spain), indicates that the Iberian Peninsula was home to a highly diverse assemblage of medium-to-large bodied spinosaurid dinosaurs. It seems that spinosaurids appeared during the Early Cretaceous in Laurasia, with the two subfamilies occupying the western part of Europe during this period. Later, during the Barremian–Aptian, they migrated to Africa and Asia, where they would diversify. In Europe, baryonychines were dominant, while in Africa, spinosaurines were most abundant. s41598-023-33418-2.pdf

Hi! This compressed, incomplete tooth is 2,9 cm long and has fluting and tiny serrations of the right dimensions for a Suchomimus tooth. Yet it does look quite different than some other Suchomimus teeth I have seen online, so I would love to hear your opinions. The location given is Gadoufaoua, Tenere Desert, Niger, Elrhaz Fm. Thanks!

I see more and more material being made available from Laos especially Spinosauridae teeth and members asking about them. I'm not an expert from this locality just trying to pull together published information to help collectors on both Thailand and Laos teeth. Its never simple . Locality is very important in identification, so you really need to know the specific area where the teeth were found. Just Laos or Thailand is not acceptable Lets look at Localities and formations Nice image from the paper that described a Garfish that shows both Thailand and Laos localities (Cavin 2019) Northeastern Thailand Khok Krut Formation: Morph type 1 : Spinosaurid indet Morph type II : cf Simosaurus suteethorni (Manitkoon et al 2022) The teeth of Khok Kruat spinosaurids (see below figure) can be categorized into two sub-morphotypes (Wongko et al. 2019), both found in the Khok Pha Suam locality. Sub-morphotype I (Fig. 3p) presents a smooth enamel surface of the crown and possesses more than 20 fine ridges on each side. Sub-morphotype II (Fig. 3q) shows a wrinkled enamel surface of the crown and no more than 16 coarse ridges on each side, which is similar to Siamosaurus suteethorni from the Sao Khua Formation Morph Types figure 3 From (Wongo et al 2019) Sao Khua Formation: A: Siamosaurus suteethorni tooth (Sao Khua Fm) B: Indet Spinosaurid (Khok Kruat Fm) Summary of known teeth from different areas ( Wongo et al 2019 ) Laos: The Gres superieurs Formation: -From Savannakhet basin -Ichthyovenator laosensis is considered a Spinosaurinae (Allain et al 2014) -No teeth were found with the Holotype of Ichthyovenator so they were not described as part of that publication -The Grès Supérieurs Formation of southern Laos is laterally considered an equivalent to the Khok Kruat Formation. (Manitkoon et al 2022) -KEY: Morph type I from above considered Ichthyovenator laosensis (Manitkoon et al 2022) References: -Spinosaurid theropod teeth from the Red Beds of the Khok Kruat Formation (Early Cretaceous) in Northeastern Thailand , Kamonlak Wongo, Eric Buffetaut, Suchada Khamha and Komsorn Lauprasert 2019 -The first definitive Asian spinosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the early cretaceous of Laos Ronan Allain & Tiengkham Xaisanavong & Philippe Richir & Bounsou Khentavong 2012 -Fossil assemblage from the Khok Pha Suam locality of northeastern, Thailand: an overview of vertebrate diversity from the Early Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation (Aptian-Albian) , Sita Manitkoon, Uthumporn Deesri, Komsorn Lauprasert, Prapasiri Warapeang, Thanit Nonsrirach, Apirut Nilpanapan, Kamonlak Wongko, Phornphen Chanthasit 2022 -A spinosaurid from Thailand (Sao Khua Formation, Early Cretaceous) and a reassessment of Camarillasaurus cirugedae from the Early Cretaceous of Spain, Adun Samathi , P. Martin Sander & Phornphen Chanthasit 2021 -Cavin, L.; Deesri, U.; Veran, M.; Khentavong, B.; Jintasakul, P.; Chanthasit, P.; Allain, R. (2019). "A new Lepisosteiformes (Actinopterygii: Ginglymodi) from the Early Cretaceous of Laos and Thailand, SE Asia". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 17 (5): 393–407. doi:10.1080/14772019.2018.1426060 -A Catalogue of Material and Review of the Spinosauridae Tor Bertin 2010 -Allain, Ronan (2014). "New material of the theropod Ichthyovenator from Ban Kalum type locality (Laos): Implications for the synonymy of Spinosaurus and Sigilmassasaurus and the phylogeny of Spinosauridae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Programs and Abstracts. 74: 78 @Guns

So I own 4 Spinosaurid teeth from the KemKem beds now between 79MM and 116MM. As looking closer, they can vary a lot between the teeth. Is there any explanation. As most of the people call it the regular Spinosaurus Aegypticus. Looks to me there could have several big spinosaurids lived during the time? I am not as educated as most of you are. Hence the question I'm asking out of curiosity.

Hi! I have a tooth from the Gres Superieurs formation of Laos and I'm struggling with the ID. The person I acquired the tooth from suggested it was an undescribed spinosaurid - possibly Baryonychinae - due to the striations in the enamel. I'm not sure though, so I was hoping someone with more knowledge of teeth from Loas might be able to help me out. My first thoughts upon seeing the tooth were that it was likely to be a Pterosaur or fish tooth. It's certainly not Ichthyovenator as it's far too narrow. It's 0.88 inches long. Thanks in advance for any help! IMG_6481.HEIC IMG_6482.HEIC IMG_6483.HEIC

Here is a spinosaurus claw for sale on an auction site. I can't see any major red flags except for some small repairs, but i don't know. What do people here think? It's 10 cm long

Hello ! Info from seller : Spinosaurid neck vertebra from kem kem . What do you think ? Best regards Guns

Together is the price 140 euro / 150 US dollar + shipping (Paypal is preferred) Suchomimus: - Length: 0.84 inch - 21.3 mm - Location: Elrhaz Formation, Gadoufaoua, Niger, 112 million years, Albian, Cretaceous - Description: This Suchomimus tooth has noticeable ridges and good brown discoloration. These smaller Suchomimus teeth would make a great addition as although small they are in very good condition. Spinosauridae: - Length: 2.50 inch 63.5 mm - Location: Kem Kem beds, Begga, Morocco, 96 million years, Cenomanian, Cretaceous - Description: This Spinosaurus tooth is a decent size and has a great glaze. It would be a good addition to any dinosaur collection. Both fossils have been consolidated with paraloid b72, to preserve them for future generations, as is standard procedure in all museums. No repairs or restorations to this fossils.

Hi all. I know this is not a great tooth by any standard. But to be honest, I do like how it shows its age. Also, it emphasizes how well preserved my other teeth are. And it is nice and chunky! The tooth has lost some of the features to make an accurate ID. Still, it looks Spinosaurid to me. Could it possibly be something else? It is 7 cm long and from the Kem Kem beds. Thanks!

I can't figure out if suchomimus and baryonyx are the same animal. From what I gather they aren't, but does anyone here know?

Seller has this listed as a Spinosaurus hand bone with some repairs, no resto.... just wanted to get some of your guys opinions on it. Do you think it's real? Does it look like there's any restoration?

Name : Ichthyovenator laosensis Age : 130 mya Type : dinosaurs Species : spinosaurid Location : laos Tooth size : 2.7 inches Note : this massive tooth from Ichthyovenator laosensis the spinosaurid from Laos.

Good evening, these vertebrae are announced as spinosaurid, but it's posible to know just with the centrum preserved? At Kem Kem beds there are a lot of other reptiles so, it's posible to know with incomplete material like these?

I bought this tooth last year from a trusted local fossil shop, it was sold to me as an authentic spinosaurus tooth. Is this truly a spinosaurus tooth or is it from a croc (or something else)? Hoping I didnt get scammed.. Also, for future reference, how would I tell the difference between a spino tooth and a croc tooth?

Hello! I saw a jaw fragment for sale from the kem kem beds, it's identified as crocodile. I've seen picsc of crocodile jaws before and that they have like a pitted texture, I don't see that very clearly on this one, but since this is out of my expertise I want to ask you guys who has more knowledge. Could it be something else like a spinosaurid?