Red Flags on Dinosaur Material

[Troodon]

I have not done red flags in a long time.  Decided to look at just an auction site and was appalled at what I saw.  Here is a small sampling of what I saw.

 

A 5 1/2"  Spinosaurus claw.  Its a composite/fabricated and the red flag is just the price.  You may not be knowledgeable to determine if its a composite or otherwise but these claws should be very expensive(in the thousands) and when you see them cheap especially big ones its a red flag.

 

Most of the bones sold are identified as Spinosaurus.  So be careful there are other reptiles out there.  This one is from a Crocodyliform being sold as Spinosaurus

 

 

Beautiful tooth unfortunately lots of sellers cannot distinguish between  Ankylosaurus and one of the Nodosaurs in the Hell Creek.  This one is an indeterminate Nodosaurid.

Dont forget to get the county where it was found, especially if its Montana, needed for identification.

 

 

 

Wow this tooth is being sold as ceratopsian, so that should give one a clue of the knowledge of some of the sellers listing fossils.  Its Edmontosaurus

 

Spinosaurus foot digit being sold.  Nice claw but if you look at other views the phalanx belong to the hand not foot

 

Caution everyone shopping for dinosaur material lots of mislabeled items out there not only from auction sites but some online dealers.     Unless you are a real expert on this stuff please ask us before you buy. 

[Phos_01]

I saw these pieces also, only the bottom toe claw I would like, and perhaps the Phalanx also to add to a handclaw once I find it lol.

 

There are even worse ones out there. At my time being as a collector so far, I find about 95% of the Moroccan material is either altered or composites, just 5% is good lets say in my opinion 

 

One interesting thing also, that has not been bespoke allot: I see allot of American fossils that are also altered and painted, to enhance the looks. This is much better done than the Moroccan ones, and also has allot to do with the dark original color of the fossil, therefore you cannot see it much, it's usually not mentioned at the listing. 

 

So posting on T.F.F. upon buying is always a good thing, unless you know what your doing
Thanks for this guide as always

[Mart1980]

Good examples, perfectly set out. Thank you .

 

A useful warning that every collector should revisit every now and then. Sometimes a collector wants a piece too much, and red flags are ignored. At least I occasionally suffer from it, until another collectors point out the risks to me. Maybe I'm too naive, then such topics are extra useful.

 

What also strikes me is that traders often stick the labels to the fossils while they themselves do not even know whether the labels are correct. Often with additional inquiries, traders frankly admit this; "That's how I got it, I don't know any more." Labels are often obtained with the fossils and in the worst case also in bad condition or illegible. The well-intentioned trader then makes a new label, from what he can decipher. We do not know for sure whether the data is still pure. So even labeled fossils are sometimes debatable, which should make us extra cautious.

[Troodon]

17 hours ago, Mart1980 said:

Sometimes a collector wants a piece too much, and red flags are ignored. At least I occasionally suffer from it, until another collectors point out the risks to me.

 

Good point, we all suffer from this.  Wanting to add cool items to our collection, how nice.  For example, special hard to obtain hadrosaur or ceratopsid material from the Judith River Fm.  The temptation to purchase rare items is great, like the ones being offered on an auction site, shown below.   The COA, which is offered, to many give confidence of an accurate ID, which it never is.   Unfortunately these genus are not even formally described from the JRF and most are indeterminate.

 

Parasaurolophus

 

Corythosaurus

 

Corythosaurus

 

Parasaurolophus

 

Parasaurolophus

 

Centrosaurus

 

Chasmosaurus

 

Don't assume just auction sites have issues some online sellers identify their specimen properly as a ceratopsid or a hadrosaurid but then infer or put out possibilities of a species name in the description.  Thats deceptive in my line of thinking.

Do you homework, determine if what is being sold can be identified to a genus level especially if its hadrosaurian or ceratopsian.  Remember most deposits have multiple species described.   Dont assume what is listed is accurate and that the species even is described in that formation.  Take your time and do not rush a decision.

 

 

 

[Troodon]

Forgot to mention, location, location, location...is imperative when purchasing dinosaur fossils especially from Montana.  In the example above the seller identified the origin of the items being sold as eastern montana.  JRF is north central montana.  You need to know the county or town with every purchase.  So are we looking at Hell Creek specimens?