Moroccan Trilobite Selenopeltis: Is it real?

[Praefectus]

Hello. I saw this trilobite piece on display and was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it. I believe it is fake or heavily composited. Do the trilobites shown come from the same time period? Also, would trilobites and starfish be found together like this? The owner thinks the trilobites are real but have been composited together. Is there any way to verify this? Thanks for any help.  

 

[Praefectus]

I’ll be able to post more detailed pictures later this week.

[Darktooth]

Very fake! Run, run away fast!

[Praefectus]

3 minutes ago, Darktooth said:

Very fake! Run, run away fast!

Thanks for the advice. I'm not considering purchasing this piece. It is on display in a university's paleontology room (They paid a lot of $$$ for it). I'm trying to find out if any of the trilobites, even just a tiny section, are real. 

[Huntonia]

The Selenopeltis are all fake I believe, they look very bad (and very commonly fake). I also believe the starfish are carved. However, they were clearly added to the plate unnaturally, but I believe the mucronaspis and onnia on the plate are real. The ones circled in red look good (may be restored) the mucronaspis in yellow may be carved but I think it's just rough prep. This was definitely a big waste of money for them though. What a shame. 

 

[FrozenFlame]

I mean, it makes a nice decoration at the very least...

 

That said, mass mortality plates like these are generally rarer, and as such, more expensive, which increases the chances of some underhandedness. The seastars just don't fit the profile (the one bottom right just looks downright weird, missing an arm tip), and those trilos look so .. similar to each other. Didn't know that had cloning technology that far back. 

 

Yeah, this is looking to me that quite a lot is fabricated, some composited. Such a shame that they paid so much money for it as well. 

[Pterygotus]

Ouch!!

I like how all the stars are doing the same thing 

[Yoda]

On 26/02/2020 at 12:35 AM, Praefectus said:

Thanks for the advice. I'm not considering purchasing this piece. It is on display in a university's paleontology room (They paid a lot of $$$ for it). I'm trying to find out if any of the trilobites, even just a tiny section, are real. 

One would think a University Palaeontology department would have known better?????? 

[FranzBernhard]

I find the hidden cephalon (green outline) especially interesting:

Why are they doing this? To make things a little bit more real?

Franz Bernhard

[Praefectus]

Thanks so much for the help. I was able to get some better photos. Here are close-ups of the trilobites. Can these help confirm if there are any real elements to them? I am suspicious of the crack at the cephalon of the Selenopeltis. I also suspect the spines have been added on. Is there a chance the thorax is real? How do the Mucronaspis look? Are they fake or just really bad prep jobs? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Praefectus]

Here are the starfish. I agree that they look carved. 

 

 

 

[FranzBernhard]

Thanks for the additional pics!

 

I don´t like to comment further, but I am noticing this feature:

Thats much more than simple carving! Do they really copy some real fossils? Making drawings of some real fossils on stone (or what else the matrix in this case is)?

They have really gone the long way with this "specimen"!

Franz Bernhard

[aeon.rocks]

Hard to say how much is real - with this type of preservation, fakery is easy. Anyone who tells you different and jumps to conclusion that everything is totally fake on this plate is either very familiar with the locality and preparation of these and production methods of casts of these or just believes the stereotypes about all Moroccan trilobites being fake. 

 

Could be there are some real parts, I am not sure, no prep experience with these bugs so far, not sure even about matrix...but most of the darker trilobite spines for sure look restored and painted. I don't want to say that all the "fossils" on the plate are carved or made from casts - because there's not much evidence to support that, there are no bubbles and to carve all of these is a waste of time imho, so it's possible that the trilobites on the plate could be partially real, with restored spines, probably not even all composited, but restored and some elements for decoration added. It's a guess only... But looking at everything, if you compare with other plates, quite likely that the "fossils" were casted to the plate, spines carved and "decoration" added, making this a total fake plate, even matrix. A guess only too, but... Can't say from pics only!

 

It would be easy to cast all individual trilobites on the plate, add a paint job and you can fool many university paleontologists, but as mentioned, with this type of preservation it's hard to say anything without real experience or making a guess... Selenopeltis buchii mass morrtality plates with restoration to the spines are not "uncommon", but when preservation is bad, preparation is usually bad too - I highly doubt this material is fun to prep, so hard to say anything. If you make a good professional cast, it's not easy to tell what's a good cast and what real with this material, but casts in Morocco are usually far from professionally made... 

 

All summed in a nut shell - inconclusive!  

 

Soak in acetone for 24h or sandblast with soda and we'll see.

 

Below mass mortality plates fake and composited too?

 

 

 

Easy to notice better skin preservation on these and different matrix! Of course there's restored parts, but that's normal. If the plate in question is not from a different layer or a different site (bad preservation), then probably totally fake. 

[Huntonia]

Yes I agree with the new pictures it looks very possible the Selenopeltis in the plate are at least partially real. I tend to be very suspicious of Selenopeltis because I have seen a large number of fakes. In the original picture the trilobites appeared to be surrounded by grooves and discolored matrix which made me think most likely fakes or composites. However these could just be from prep work, certain prep can slightly discolor matrix. (Although making that judgment is difficult for me as I am mildly colorblind). All in all as @aeon.rocks stated it's just inconclusive.

Here is an excellent resource: 

http://www.fossilmuseum.net/collect/faketrilobites3.htm

Section C4 gives a frightening look at how advanced some casts are becoming. Thanks to these improvements in the craft of fakery no definitive statement can really be made without irrefutable evidence to prove one way or another. 

[Praefectus]

Thanks so much for the help, everyone. 

[aeon.rocks]

If I had to make a choice: I'ld say everything about the plate is totally fake - even matrix. Bugs casted and some spines made after casting... But as mentioned, not sure and I don't want to jump to that conclusion based on possibly bad preservation/different color (in the link Huntonia added there is a fake similar...), we see Moroccan trilobites classified as fake to often. But to make conclusions based on colors in low res-pics can be tricky (below pic - real Sel.). Last case I remember: Asaphids with preserved antennas, thought to be fake, until examined in hand and proved real...

 

The problem for fakery of these is that spines are restored in commercial prep: In Morocco, Selenopeltis is normally found in very hard, fine grained, grey-white sandstones. The hardness of the rock demands careful and patient preparation with professional equipment, and it is especially difficult to prepare all the many spines.

 

 

Picture: Mostafa Quakki ...different color to usual black or grey is not necessary a sign of fakery