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Yet another Mosasaur jaw for scrutiny


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Opinions please as to the "original" state of this piece. The seller touts "as found." I have provided the largest image available. Please comment.

 

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As found where, the restoration factory.


Not seeing any bone that the teeth are attached to. Probably just a collection of teeth attached to rock with sediment and glue. 

  • I found this Informative 1

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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I'm gonna disagree. I think this is more likely to be 100% original, based on just this photo. It does look a bit worse for wear though.

 

I think this is a slightly damaged pterygoid jaw. The base of the tooth crowns all look good. And there's a coprolite right next to the last tooth. That's not something I'd expect if the tooth was placed there.

 

No red flags here. Looks okay.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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28 minutes ago, LordTrilobite said:

I'm gonna disagree. I think this is more likely to be 100% original, based on just this photo. It does look a bit worse for wear though.

 

I think this is a slightly damaged pterygoid jaw. The base of the tooth crowns all look good. And there's a coprolite right next to the last tooth. That's not something I'd expect if the tooth was placed there.

 

No red flags here. Looks okay.

This is a good example of wanting a  better photo or seeing it in person with a lens; I could probably could determine if bone were present in 2 seconds. Looking at it again I can’t convince myself that the teeth are or are not set in a jaw. Are the teeth set in a bone jaw? I think that I see some smooth areas where I would expect to see bone. I do not know if the smooth areas can be faked to look like that (bone?). 
 

I defer to experts that think this is probably bone even though preservation is poor. I have a hard time seeing where the jaw ends and the matrix begins partly because the colors are similar.

 

Anyone else have an opinion on the presence or absence of bone? I do like the teeth.

35C3BDE4-B0CF-41C3-9322-D6D261CC1DC9.jpeg

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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I see what you mean. But imo it's just a bit worn. Looks fine otherwise. And the colouration is all correct.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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