Chrisn01 Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) Hey Guys & Girls Im a novice when it comes to fossils & would appreciate your input. Stumbled across this fossil 22" Mossasaur Jaw for sale & wondered your thoughts on weather it looks real or fake. Kind regards Chris :0) Edited October 17, 2021 by Chrisn01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiros Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Looks like a quite bad composite. Bone pieces and teeth all added togheter. Anyway some forum members are much more knowledgeable about maroccan fossils than me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth_ Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon You're expertise is required again Would I be wrong in saying composite? I always keep an eye on these posts to learn something 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 I don't see big red flags here. The jaws themselves look like they are probably all original. But I'd say it's probable that some or many of the teeth are composited in. The photos are not very good tho. We need much better lighting and clear detail photos. 2 1 2 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisn01 Posted October 18, 2021 Author Share Posted October 18, 2021 Thanks guys, opinions much appreciated & could have possibly saved me from a bad buy & wasted journey :0) Well I've just asked the seller for some close up photo's, so will post them up once I receive them. Would price be a good indicator of authenticity as well as not queit sure what the going rate would be of something of this size. Kind regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 I pretty much agree with what Olof has said above: both bones and teeth are real and the jaws were probably already part of the matrix, with an uncertain number of teeth likely having been added. It's hard to tell what's been added, though, as the quality of the photographs is just too low for that. It would appear, however, that at least some teeth are original, as they lie deeper into the matrix than the rest of the fossil, or are covered by other bits of fossil - presuming the jaw did originally belong to the block. The teeth at least all appear to belong to the same species, however, which is not always a given... The bones themselves seem to consist of a right mandible (seen medially) and a right maxilla (see laterally, from the outside), with what appears to be part of the premaxilla still being present to the bottom left of the maxilla. 2 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Chrisn01 said: Would price be a good indicator of authenticity as well as not queit sure what the going rate would be of something of this size. Unfortunately, we're not allowed to discuss price on the forum. Also, prices can differ greatly from vendor to vendor, and, even irrespective of this fact, are never a good indication of authenticity as fakers are aware of this implicit assumption certain buyers might have and will therefore raise their prices accordingly. I've seen plain rocks offered online for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, since they were sold off as various rare dinosaur parts (but clearly weren't). I guess what I'm saying is: if you want to fake a piece, you should also fake the price, as otherwise people will be on to you in no time. Edited October 18, 2021 by pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon 1 1 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 I agree with pretty much everything pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon has said. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisn01 Posted October 18, 2021 Author Share Posted October 18, 2021 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisn01 Posted October 18, 2021 Author Share Posted October 18, 2021 Thanks again for the replys. Managed to get the seller to send me some close up photos for you guys to cast your eyes over & let me know what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Thanks for the additional photographs! By the looks of it, about half of the teeth seem to have been added. You can easily recognize the lines that were added by the line of sand between the tooth crown or root and the jaw bone. In the first photograph, this means at least the right-most one, if it the middle one (line of sand visible on the root); on the third photograph, it looks like both were added; on the fourth, at least the one on the left was added, with the being signs something may also be going on on the right; and one the last photograph, again both teeth appear added - one at the root, the other between root and crown... 1 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisn01 Posted October 18, 2021 Author Share Posted October 18, 2021 1 hour ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said: Thanks for the additional photographs! By the looks of it, about half of the teeth seem to have been added. You can easily recognize the lines that were added by the line of sand between the tooth crown or root and the jaw bone. In the first photograph, this means at least the right-most one, if it the middle one (line of sand visible on the root); on the third photograph, it looks like both were added; on the fourth, at least the one on the left was added, with the being signs something may also be going on on the right; and one the last photograph, again both teeth appear added - one at the root, the other between root and crown... Thanks for checking this out for me, its kindly appreciated :0) To be fair, the seller wasn't asking alot of money, but still would have been a bit of a drive to collect it. So based on what you've told me, think ill be giving it a miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisn01 Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) Hey guys Hope you are all well :0) Had a change of heart & decided to go ahead with the purchase & glad I did as exceeded my expectations with regards to being athletically pleasing. Was also alot bigger & much heavier than I originally anticipated, could just about lift it lol. Well I've added some detailed pictures below and a video clip, so would appreciate your thoughts now you can see it in more detail. https://youtube.com/shorts/G5uFHZqyg6Q?feature=share Edited October 25, 2021 by Chrisn01 Mistake 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Looks pretty good. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisn01 Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 3 hours ago, LordTrilobite said: Looks pretty good. Thanks :0) wasn't provided much information when I purchased it, all she could tell me was that it was real & had belonged to her husband. Would love to know the age & exact mosasaurus species it derived from. Also need to work out how best to display it as must weigh about 15kg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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