dhiggi Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 I spent most of yesterday in a hospital waiting room and passed the time reading the forum. While I was already aware of some of the things they get up to in Morocco, I was shocked to see just how many Mosasaur related posts there are in this section of the forum. We have this piece in my daughter’s collection and I was wondering if it’s anything more than just a genuine crown stuck on something to look like a root. I have soaked it in cold water for around an hour and while it didn’t all crumble away to nothing, a couple of bits came off and touching it left a sticky residue on my fingers. I have seen people on here decide that the presence of other fish/bone material in the matrix is a good sign that it’s genuine but I have looked around and seen hundreds of mosasaur and plesiosaur teeth in these suspicious little Moroccan matrix blocks with a few random fish verts thrown in for effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praefectus Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Wow! Nice tooth. It is a genuine Platecarpus ptychodon mosasaur tooth. They are found in the Maastrichtian-aged Khouribga phosphate deposits near Oued Zem, Morocco. Below are a few of mine for comparison. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhiggi Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 23 minutes ago, Praefectus said: Wow! Nice tooth. It is a genuine Platecarpus ptychodon mosasaur tooth. They are found in the Maastrichtian-aged Khouribga phosphate deposits near Oued Zem, Morocco. Below are a few of mine for comparison. Thank you. Do you think the piece as a whole is genuine or has it been glued into fake matrix either for stability or to make it more visually appealing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praefectus Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 The whole piece looks genuine. The matrix is original Moroccan matrix and I do not see anything that would indicate that it was glued. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Yes, this looks all good. No red flags at all. You got a real rooted tooth there with what looks like a piece of reptile bone fragment and several fish vertebrae. The tooth itself is indeed "Platecarpus" ptychodon. Note that I put the genus in quotes because it's possible this species does not belong to the genus of Platecarpus. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Very nice tooth like the way its sitting on the matrix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Im wondering why there would be a sticky residue on your fingers after that water soak? Dang nice tooth though. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnoun11 Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 hi the sticky residus is elmers glue, they used it for consolidation. nice teeth. 2 The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BellamyBlake Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Lovely! It looks real, I agree with the others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhiggi Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 21 minutes ago, jnoun11 said: hi the sticky residus is elmers glue, they used it for consolidation. nice teeth. Good to know, thank you. Thank you for all the input everyone. I suppose part of my doubt stemmed from the fact that I paid very little for such a nicely rooted tooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplomado Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 That looks great! I wish I had such a lovely rooted tooth in matrix... Stop soaking it in water or the matrix may fall apart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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