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Dinosaur Egg Real or Fake? Looking for an opinion


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Hello everyone,

 

I was hoping to get some opinions on an egg that I was thinking of purchasing. The description has it as either an oviraptor or a tarbosaurus. It seems to be in to good of shape making me question it. The dimensions are 33cm x 11cm x 10cm with weight of about 10 pounds. They are saying it is from the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia and was from a private collection.  There are some red flags from the description but thought I would ask for some opinions. 

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It's huge, much larger than those attributed to oviraptor. It is very impressive due to the size and shell coverage/condition. However, it is so different from eggs I have handled; I don't have a helpful opinion.

 

@HamptonsDoc Have you seen a similar specimen?

Edited by snolly50

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@Akaspris I know it blocks the view of some eggshell, but I have edited the images you posted to obscure the seller's watermark.  Please understand that per Forum rules, we do not permit anything posted that identifies the seller.  If you want to post any images with similar watermarks, then please edit them before posting.  Thanks, and welcome to TFF.  :)

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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These large eggs were available at the Tucson show just a few years back with a very weak provenance, lots available in pairs.   No red flags  although the views and black marker make it difficult to see and be certain there is no resto.  I believe its a Macroelongatoolithus egg which have been reported from Barun-Goyot, Mongolia.  They were sold as Tarbosaurus eggs guess because of their size but recent discoveries and publications like the one shown below point the finger at large bodied Oviraptorosaurs.   Without a locality difficult to determine what formation it's from but large eggs do come from the Djadokhta Fm.

 

 

Simon, D. J. (2014). "Giant Dinosaur (theropod) Eggs of the Oogenus Macroelongatoolithus (Elongatoolithidae) from Southeastern Idaho: Taxonomic, Paleobiogeographic, and Reproductive Implications.

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  • Kane changed the title to Dinosaur Egg Real or Fake? Looking for an opinion

I would be very carefull. I know this dealer and seen that he offers real looking fossils next to absurdly fake specimens. He also offers such a thing:

Confuziornis.thumb.jpg.85b4d8bb74061a53bd053e9ec0e8a2b5.jpg

Edited by oilshale
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Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC).

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36 minutes ago, oilshale said:

I would be very carefull.

What do you think? Could the egg in question be a cast? Egg shell structure neatly lines up, fragments fit nicely together. So its either a quite good egg (With some repair? I don´t know.) or a total fake/cast.

Franz Bernhard

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51 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said:

What do you think? Could the egg in question be a cast? Egg shell structure neatly lines up, fragments fit nicely together. So its either a quite good egg (With some repair? I don´t know.) or a total fake/cast.

Franz Bernhard

I really have no idea. It could be a very well made cast. But it irritates me when a supposedly reputable dealer offers genuine looking fossils next to gruesome fakes. Does the dealer have no idea what he is selling? I can hardly believe it.

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Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC).

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I am looking for reputable dealers if any knows any in the United States. You can send me a direct message. There are not a lot in Vermont.

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With a 10 pound weight lean against a cast but could be lead filled.   However I would want to see side views and closups of the egg to see if anything pops up but looks real with some minor repair.  There is some matrix fill in your third that needs to be checked out.

Buying from international sources especially China is always a risky endeavor.     Eggs from all sources needed to be validated, even reputable domestic dealers can be tricked.  Sellers typically do not stock eggs and inventory comes and goes.   

 

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I took a look, thanks to Oilshale the sellers other offering.  I would proceed with caution.  Would like to get @-Andy- opinion .

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The consensus is to proceed with caution.  Buying any fossil online has potential risks.  Let's steer this conversation away from commentary about the seller and back to the original request.  

 

Eggs are marketable.  For that reason, I suspect very well made fakes have been produced,  even to the point of making a handheld identification difficult.  Again, based on photos (which can be edited), purchase at your own risk.

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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1 hour ago, oilshale said:

I really have no idea. It could be a very well made cast. But it irritates me when a supposedly reputable dealer offers genuine looking fossils next to gruesome fakes. Does the dealer have no idea what he is selling? I can hardly believe it.

Thank you! All in all, better avoid.

Franz Bernhard

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17 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

even to the point of making a handheld identification difficult.

Would be interesting to see such a thing! Has anybody something  around?

Some time ago, an Argentinian member provided a cartoon about this subject - ?

Franz Bernhard

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I would avoid this. Besides what has already been discussed about its source, the egg is too suspicious. The vast majority of theropod egg on matrix that I've seen are fake or composites. Meanwhile, theropod eggs free of matrix are far less likely to be fakes

 

Also, there are different shades of color on the egg that is inconsistent with proper theropod eggs. The picture shows what I mean. The top egg is an authentic Oviraptorid egg, the bottom is the egg you are considering. I pushed up the saturation on both eggs to demonstrate what I mean

 

Egg.thumb.jpg.a003fb1554e37ab02060c9b06f79a16d.jpg

 

Not to mention - the locality is wrong. This is an egg from China, not Mongolia

 

I believe this is a composite egg at best. Feel free to pm me if you want more info.

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Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/2/2021 at 8:06 AM, -Andy- said:

I would avoid this. Besides what has already been discussed about its source, the egg is too suspicious. The vast majority of theropod egg on matrix that I've seen are fake or composites. Meanwhile, theropod eggs free of matrix are far less likely to be fakes

 

Also, there are different shades of color on the egg that is inconsistent with proper theropod eggs. The picture shows what I mean. The top egg is an authentic Oviraptorid egg, the bottom is the egg you are considering. I pushed up the saturation on both eggs to demonstrate what I mean

 

Egg.thumb.jpg.a003fb1554e37ab02060c9b06f79a16d.jpg

 

Not to mention - the locality is wrong. This is an egg from China, not Mongolia

 

I believe this is a composite egg at best. Feel free to pm me if you want more info.

I agree with Andy. I would not purchase these and would not want them in my collection even if given to me for as a gift. 

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