Real mosasaur jaw with tooth ???

[Guns]

Hi everyone !

Is this a real mosasaur jaw with tooth ? Any red flag & restoration & composite ? I hope the pictures are good enough if not I can ask seller for more addition pictures .

 

as always thank you in advance .

Guns

[Tidgy's Dad]

It looks good to me, but wait to see what others who are more knowledgeable than I say. 

The last tooth is a shark tooth, but I think it just happened to get caught up in the preservation rather than being added later by the prepper.  

[RJB]

Im not saying it is, but with so many different soil colors, this thing looks built? 

 

RB

[Troodon]

Gloves being used so not to get the glue on your hands that has composited all of the pieces together. 

[snolly50]

I like:

Many non-mosasaur bits scattered throughout the slab - fish verts, shark tooth

Photo #3, the damaged, crushed tooth lends authenticity - why include in a fake (well except, to make a better, more convincing composite)

The teeth barely seen to the right of photo #1 are embedded at a different angle than the rest of the fragments. Again, to my mind, this touch lends authenticity (or screams cleverness).  

 

Uh oh:

A general, well deserved wariness regarding Moroccan jaws in plaster casts asserts itself. This appears well ingrained in Forum responders to this type of post.

Photo #2 appears a reversal - innocent mistake?

The large "upside down" tooth in Photo#1 and elsewhere appears more robust than the others seen. Perhaps it is a natural tooth deposited from another animal or perhaps it is just another random piece - evidence of a cobbled slab.

What's up with the white colored splatter? Seen throughout, but prominent in photo #8. It appears a splatter of a liquid substance and unfortunately suggests glue. Perhaps plaster, but the now visible surface would have been protected, if the jacket was applied when the piece was dug.

 

@Troodon cleverly opines the gloves are a safeguard against glue. He may well be correct. I view the white cotton gloves as an affected artifice by the seller to suggest they are handling a precious, museum worthy piece. I have previously noted this approach among several fossil dealers. Not really an indicator of deception, but it does suggest salesmanship.

 

@jnoun11 I, and I am sure the original poster, would benefit from your observations.

 

 

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

1 hour ago, snolly50 said:

 cleverly opines the gloves are a safeguard against glue. He may well be correct. I view the white cotton gloves as an affected artifice by the seller to suggest they are handling a precious, museum worthy piece. I have previously noted this approach among several fossil dealers. Not really an indicator of deception, but it does suggest salesmanship.

I would say in all fairness that this individual always has gloves on for their more precious (?) bones/slabs etc... and I don't think indicates any chicanery. But that being said, I think these are picked up without much understanding of exactly what is on offer and is sold as-is. Or rather, I would check here on the forum first for the proper ID and check for authenticity. 

 

Cheers,

Brett

[Guns]

@Brett Breakin' Rocks @snolly50 @Troodon @RJB @Tidgy's Dad Thank you so much everyone for your opinions on this !

[Bguild]

Yeah I would stay away from this one. It’s real bits and pieces, but frankensteined together! 

[RJB]

Still a cool fossil but I would only buy it at a super reasonable price.   Good luck

 

RB

[LordTrilobite]

This looks like it's probably mostly original.

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

As has been observed by others, the various bits and pieces look authentic, although I wouldn't dare make a statement on how much depth each of the pieces has. That is, of course you can put a tooth having only been exposed for the top part down to sloppy preparation, but it's just as likely the tooth does not continue much beyond the part that is shown (damaged or incomplete parts have their value too, if stuck together appealingly enough, after all)...

 

Not sure whether this is a composite, but this seems likely by the looks of it (I've seen composites with less telltale signs than on this piece), and there's no question as to the copious amounts of glue that have been applied...

 

Also I would agree with @snolly50 that the gloves do indicate salesmanship, as this makes the seller look more professional. After all, everyone has seen museum curators handle important antiques using gloves, right? I'd advise you, however, to take a look at the seller's other offer, add I find this is typically a good indicator of how scrupulous and trustworthy they are (it may, along these same lines be worthwhile having a look at this thread too).