FF7_Yuffie Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 The collector who I buy my Chinese pterosaur fossils from gave me some info about Psitaccosaurus fossils since I inquired about one he had. I thought I will share it here in case anybody is considering thinking about buying one. He isn't a commercial seller--a collector who sells fossils he finds and on behalf of fossil collectors, who I hope it doesn't break the rules of discussing sellers to post what he informed me. Think it's useful for people to know "The Psittacosaurus fossil. Please always remember that you get what you pay for. Most Psittacosaurus are chucked together. It is impossible to get a complete one now. So, worker would keep all pieces and when they can make up a complete body, they will do it easily. We can't judge it just from the pictures." So, it seems that they are all composited over a period of time, to such an extent that it is very difficult to tell the difference. He also sent two photos which I have also attached showing composited Psitaccosaurus which, to my eye look very well done. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 Excellent information If you do decide to purchase one this is what a skeleton should look like. Reconstruction by Scott Hartman The hands should have 4 digits..most composites have 3 The feet can vary slightly depending on species but should have 4 digits 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 A very informative post! Although you could already guess this to be the case, good to have suspicions confirmed. Additionally, it looks like they've become so good at matching bones up that, from the supplied photographs alone, it's hard to tell that the specimen is a composite (at least it is for me)... 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...
Troodon Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 51 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said: A very informative post! Although you could already guess this to be the case, good to have suspicions confirmed. Additionally, it looks like they've become so good at matching bones up that, from the supplied photographs alone, it's hard to tell that the specimen is a composite (at least it is for me)... They indeed do a good job matching bones so it looks good and thats what you want for a composite skeleton. Where they typically fall short is getting the ratios correct of the tibia/femur or humeri/femur or humeri/rad/ulna. The photo angle may be an issue but if you look at the first skeleton the femur looks much smaller than the tibia, should be the other way around. You can drive yourself crazy trying to get an accurate one and wind up never buying one.. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now