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Im a noob and just bought this Suchomimus tenerensis tooth at a market, seller said it was real. I have my doubts


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So I just bought this of a marketplace, the seller claimed all their pieces were real. Its supposed to be from a Suchomimus tenerensis. I know zero to nothing about fossils but I thought this was really cool so I bought it. 

 

The inside appears to be a layer of hard sand, wich is weird to me as ive never seen this on a fossil. Could this be an indication of a fake? 

 

Someone else already pointed out that the little holes can be a sign of a casting. 

 

Would love some extra opinions. 

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43 minutes ago, DaanH said:

The inside appears to be a layer of hard sand, wich is weird to me as ive never seen this on a fossil. Could this be an indication of a fake? 

 

Not necessarily, I have some authentic teeth that have sand at the base of the tooth. This is called matrix.

 

43 minutes ago, DaanH said:

Someone else already pointed out that the little holes can be a sign of a casting. 
 

I believe I see the holes, I do agree that it is likely made of plaster. You could try tapping it. It should sound & feel like a normal rock.

 

Also, the tooth shape doesn’t look anything like a Suchomimus tooth. Suchomimus teeth have a carinae (an edge) and have an oval cross section (your 3rd image is the cross section perspective). These teeth have small serrations on the carinae.

 

I’ll include some images of one of my Suchomimus teeth so you can compare against.

7FFCA98B-37B9-4D01-8B41-7F2F79BDE9C1.thumb.jpeg.9ef8cb44512dd47ff5f7afb8c97bffac.jpegF4E4838F-0F92-473C-8A71-ACE6F4212544.thumb.jpeg.d4434a5af7526f8585d39eb0c0671db0.jpeg
56B89A2E-3252-4E40-9D5C-A3BA9DC55045.jpeg.71e14ae37902f1e3c622130fe566e390.jpeg635A50E5-7D93-4897-86B6-1D8F27C526A3.thumb.jpeg.f5cee0e9a2063ee0bbc999046b5cd290.jpeg

Edited by Runner64
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I was thinking the same thing.... get comparisons.. This from wikipedia:  How long is your tooth.  What is the range of lengths for Suchomimus tenerensis on the internet and what did they sell for... did you get an unbelievable bargain?  One thing in your favor is the vertical striations seem to match your tooth. but what about the shape ... flat on one side ??? I think it is a tooth ,  but what ?

Suchomimus_tenerensis_claw_and_teethcrop.JPG.283066c53c88840c7b6f7f8c9dcf501f.JPGSuchomimus_tenerensis_claw_and_teeth.thumb.JPG.9d0cb7bfd529ffb74e595fe095a2fab5.JPG

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The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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Unfortunately I don't think it is real. Aside from the plaster-looking appearance, the colorful "matrix" is wrong for the Elrhaz Formation. The sand on your tooth looks like it came from a modern river/beach or an aquarium with a lot of things mixed in.

 

Most teeth from the Elrhaz Formation do not have matrix left, but when they do, they generally look like this.

289529392_ElrhazMatrix.thumb.jpg.74ea1583ca21a93966b10c3fbe8862e3.jpg

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Both the tooth and matrix are fake in my view. Matrix too coarse for the Elrhaz Formation, the crown cross-section too narrow and more like resin than a fossil dental crown

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Looks fake to me I am afraid. The root end looks like the resin or whatever has been used is poured in the mould from that end and you have the inside sloping up where they have swilled the drying liquid about to create the higher sides, then sprinkled a wrong looking bit of dirt on it as it dried further.

If you are looking at something in a market or shop and the seller is offering a bit of information, open your phone and ask the seller to help you make sure it is what they say it is. Do a search and look at images of the same fossil they are offering. 

Any dealer or seller should be more than willing to show you how they identified it and show similarities with the images etc. If the seller becomes a bit dismissive or less than helpful then you can draw your own conclusions from that too!

Don't let this put you off buying again, we all get stung from time to time, and yes fossils are very cool!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

It appears to have a liquid coating and is a cast. Perhaps made of Ceramic.  

On 6/5/2022 at 11:13 PM, DaanH said:

Suchomimus tenerensis

It's also the biggest one I would ever have seen, with an intact tip hardly possible. Structure is way off. 

Sadly you bought a forge.  Hopefully you can get your funds back. And if not, see it as a lesson learned 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think the small holes are from air bubbles popping from whatever glaze was brushed on, I agree that ceramic is likely. 

 

Sorry to say but it looks fake- we've all been there I have no doubt!

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