Is this just a poorly prepared Keichousaurus or fake?

[Muffinsaurus]

I bought this Keichousaurs recently from the auction site. The pictures were a bit blurry, but I couldn't bring myself to ask for better pictures because of anxieties, so I ordered it so I could take pictures myself. It arrived yesterday and to me it looks real and just very mutilated from the preparation. However, I don't trust my own assessment on such matters due to being very new to collecting.

 

If it is fake I have until the 4th of October to return it. This is why I'm asking.

So is this real?

(I hope the pictures are good enough, I had to borrow my wife's camera and I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to use it. If I need better ones I can see what I can do with mine, I just don't have a macro lens)

Edited September 20, 2022 by Muffinsaurus

[FranzBernhard]

Real, and you used the absolutely correct word:

4 hours ago, Muffinsaurus said:

very mutilated

I would send it back.

Franz Bernhard

 

[RJB]

Real and absolutely horrible prep job.

 

RB

[Muffinsaurus]

Thank you both for the responses.  I'm happy to know that it is real. Honestly if I knew I could find one in better condition that I could afford I would sent this back. However the itch to own one is too great. Perhaps in the future I can upgrade. 

[jpc]

I agree with the others.  

[FossilDAWG]

I always wonder with these poorly prepped specimens if it would be possible to mount them in resin and prep from the other side, perhaps by acid etching.  I gather the material is not easy to work with, so maybe that would be more effort than it is worth?

 

Don

[Fossildude19]

@steelhead9

[Phos_01]

Why would you buy it, if you already assume it's a poor job or fake. I don't understand. ? 

Unless you are happy with the item as it is .

[Randyw]

2 hours ago, Phos_01 said:

Why would you buy it, if you already assume it's a poor job or fake. I don't understand. ? 

He already owns it. He was checking if it was real.

p.s. If it was cheap enough i would get it just to have one in my collection. But the price would need to be low…

[FossilDAWG]

1 hour ago, Phos_01 said:

Why would you buy it, if you already assume it's a poor job or fake. I don't understand. ? 

Unless you are happy with the item as it is .

He did say he really wanted an example, and it was the best he could afford.  Any decision to purchase anything involves a tradeoff between how much you want an item and how much you can afford.  Some people are more fortunate than others about where the balance point might be found.  When I was a kid I really wanted a Solnhofen fish and a local rock shop had a few.  My allowance was only 1 dutch guilder a week.  After saving for 6 months the best I could afford was an imperfect specimen with a calcite vein running through it.  I was very excited and happy the day I was able to buy that fish, which I still have and cherish over 50 years later.

 

Don

[Muffinsaurus]

5 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

I always wonder with these poorly prepped specimens if it would be possible to mount them in resin and prep from the other side, perhaps by acid etching.  I gather the material is not easy to work with, so maybe that would be more effort than it is worth?

 

Don

Honestly I was wondering the same thing. I just wouldn't trust myself with trying it

 

4 hours ago, Phos_01 said:

Why would you buy it, if you already assume it's a poor job or fake. I don't understand. ? 

Unless you are happy with the item as it is .

As some of the others started it was what I could afford. Also I didn't know the prep was this bad when I ordered it. I got it we'll below what seems to be the average price.

 

Bad prep aside, I'm attached to the little long dead critter In fact the bad prep makes me a little more attached to it. It died young and was lucky enough to be fossilized, only to have so much of it careless scraped away millions of years later.

[Crazyhen]

12 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

I always wonder with these poorly prepped specimens if it would be possible to mount them in resin and prep from the other side, perhaps by acid etching.  I gather the material is not easy to work with, so maybe that would be more effort than it is worth?

 

Don

Acccording to the locals, there are 4 types of plates of these Keichosaurus fossil: 1) soft plate 2) semi-hard plate 3) hard plate 4) "steel" plate.  For the first 2 types, one could easily prep it manually.  For the hard plate, it's quite difficult as the matrix is very hard, you need mechanical tool to prep it.  For the "steel" plate, basically the matrix is as hard as "steel".  Hard and "steel" plates are more abundant, and the locals normally use acid and mechanical means to prep them, and unfortunately most of the time it results in worn-out and badly prepped specimens.  So, if it's hard and "steel" plates, I guess it's really difficult to prep it from the other side as well, and in particular as the bones are mostly worn out on the prep side, one would need very fine prep work if prep from the other side.

 

Oh yes, there is a fifth type, the "natural" form, where you can split the plate to get both the positive and negative imprints, like the one below.  This type is the best, and the rarest.

[Crazyhen]

You can see the different types of plates below: soft, semi-hard, hard, steel (but unprepped form, very rare).

[Crazyhen]

[Muffinsaurus]

@Crazyhen    Thanks! I was unaware of the different matrix types for these. This was very informative

Edited September 22, 2022 by Muffinsaurus

[FranzBernhard]

3 hours ago, Crazyhen said:

(but unprepped form, very rare

Very, very nice!
But I don´t understand: There seems to be some prep involved in some of those specimens, as some of them are sitting in a depression of the slab?
Franz Bernhard

[Crazyhen]

2 hours ago, Muffinsaurus said:

@Crazyhen    Thanks! I was unaware of the different matrix types for these. This was very informative

The one you bought looks like a hard or "steel" plate to me.  As juvenile bones are more fragile, the acid and mechanical prepping would usually lead to much loss of bones.  The good thing about hard or "steel" plate is that they won't be shattered into flakes especially after keeping for a while in humid environment.

[Crazyhen]

2 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Very, very nice!
But I don´t understand: There seems to be some prep involved in some of those specimens, as some of them are sitting in a depression of the slab?
Franz Bernhard

You have good eyes.  Yes, for the soft plate and the hard plate, there were some prepping.  For the soft plate, the covering matrix (very soft) was removed manually with small hammer and craft knife.  For the hard plate, it's prepped using mechanical tools (it's like digging the fossil out).  The one without any prepping is the split natural type, one just split the slab and there you got the negative and positive imprints.

[Muffinsaurus]

6 hours ago, Crazyhen said:

The one you bought looks like a hard or "steel" plate to me.  As juvenile bones are more fragile, the acid and mechanical prepping would usually lead to much loss of bones.  The good thing about hard or "steel" plate is that they won't be shattered into flakes especially after keeping for a while in humid environment.

 

That's good to know as it's starting to get super humid where I live.