Troodon Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 This topic is for information purposes of an experience I just encountered when looking at a Tyrannosaurid tooth on an auction site. You often see me request additional locality information when trying to ID a dinosaur tooth. I'm always concerned that the sellers provenance is not specific enough when it comes to material from Montana or Alberta to verify that the Formation provided is correct since it affects identification. Here is a good example of one case that paid off. In this case what was being offered for sale was several listings of Albertosaurus teeth from the Judith River Fm of Montana. I really liked the quality and color of the teeth so I followed up on one of them. I already knew the ID was wrong since no Albertosaurs have yet to be described from Montana so I needed to verify locality/formation.. Also the color was not typical of teeth from the JRF, a red flag. So I asked the seller about a locality beyond Montana and he immediately replied that the JRF was North Central Montana. I replied that I knew where the JRF was located but needed to understand where the tooth was found Town or County. He had to contact the digger and within a reasonable amount of time got back with me that it was Pondera County. Thats Two Medicine Fm different group of Dinosaurs. BTW seller was very helpful with no intention to deceive. Bottom line is that you need to do the best you can to verify what is being offered since you did not collect it yourself. Don't assume the ID or Formation provided is correct...Verify, verify as best as possible. Always request a town/county to be included in a provenance. If you can post interest here on the forum. Here is the tooth. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuMert Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Beautiful tooth btw. Buying online is a roulette My sites & reports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 12 minutes ago, RuMert said: Beautiful tooth btw. Buying online is a roulette I dont see it that way since you can significantly minimize your risk with the proper precautions. Heading into a purchase without them is indeed a roulette. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuMert Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Agree, you can lower the risk with 1. scientific knowledge (that's why your info is always interesting) 2. economic reasoning (a common fossil wont be faked, specifically when faking costs are higher than possible gain) 3. network of friends you can trust. But the higher the price of a fossil, the more likely it will be faked, possibly extremely professionally. There's also a problem of sellers' ignorance. So... a bit complicated for ordinary amateurs 2 My sites & reports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 @RuMert Agree and most important to the what you call "ordinary amateurs" is to post it here on the forum. We have lots of members with that scientific knowledge that can help reduce that risk factor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint08 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Great looking tooth and informative post to keep in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hxmendoza Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 On 11/11/2020 at 10:51 AM, Troodon said: This topic is for information purposes of an experience I just encountered when looking at a Tyrannosaurid tooth on an auction site. You often see me request additional locality information when trying to ID a dinosaur tooth. I'm always concerned that the sellers provenance is not specific enough when it comes to material from Montana or Alberta to verify that the Formation provided is correct since it affects identification. Here is a good example of one case that paid off. In this case what was being offered for sale was several listings of Albertosaurus teeth from the Judith River Fm of Montana. I really liked the quality and color of the teeth so I followed up on one of them. I already knew the ID was wrong since no Albertosaurs have yet to be described from Montana so I needed to verify locality/formation.. Also the color was not typical of teeth from the JRF, a red flag. So I asked the seller about a locality beyond Montana and he immediately replied that the JRF was North Central Montana. I replied that I knew where the JRF was located but needed to understand where the tooth was found Town or County. He had to contact the digger and within a reasonable amount of time got back with me that it was Pondera County. Thats Two Medicine Fm different group of Dinosaurs. BTW seller was very helpful with no intention to deceive. Bottom line is that you need to do the best you can to verify what is being offered since you did not collect it yourself. Don't assume the ID or Formation provided is correct...Verify, verify as best as possible. Always request a town/county to be included in a provenance. If you can post interest here on the forum. Here is the tooth. Gorgeous tooth! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 4 hours ago, hxmendoza said: Gorgeous tooth! Congrats! Thanks why I was interested in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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