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Could This Be Real T-Rex Bone?


Tyrannosaurus Rex

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Hello guys,

I know i made almost same topic about T-Rex bone(i can't find it anymore)but i really need help of an expert.

I found one "leg"bone of T-Rex on ebay,but i can't tell is it really T-Rex bone for sure.

Here are pictures:post-10251-0-35528300-1372962109_thumb.jpg

post-10251-0-71116000-1372962123_thumb.jpg

Seller has 99.9 positive feedback and he's from UK.

Please help me if you can.

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Might have been this post Link

Yeah,that's the one.

Anyway,can you tell me,is that real T.Rex bone if it's not a problem :)

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Currently, there is no way to identify bone chunks with so little morphology to species. And unless this could confidently be associated with Late Cretaceous deposits, as would be necessary for a T. rex ID, there would be no real way to feel confident it was even fossil dinosaur bone.

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Currently, there is no way to identify bone chunks with so little morphology to species. And unless this could confidently be associated with Late Cretaceous deposits, as would be necessary for a T. rex ID, there would be no real way to feel confident it was even fossil dinosaur bone.

Thank you for you're reply.

Can you tell me how big bone should i find so it can be positive T-Rex bone?

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I wish it were that easy. This would depend on which bone and how well it is preserved. For some bones the entire thing may be necessary to be certain. But there are many bones on a T. rex that can probably be IDed based on a small chunk.

Thank you for you're reply.

Can you tell me how big bone should i find so it can be positive T-Rex bone?

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The vendor here had a fragment (which is now sold, but still pictured):

http://www.paleodirect.com/db18-002.htm

… and he makes the following statement:

“While most dinosaur bone fragments CANNOT be honestly attributed to a species with certainty, there is a unique quality that the skeleton of T. rex possesses. The bones have a dense outer layer with an unmistakable "honeycomb" pattern to the inner cellular structure.”

I had known that this was a feature of the larger T. rex bones, but the use of the word “unique” troubles me. Just how unique? Any views, folks?

Roger

I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling]

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I had understood that the distinctive honeycomb was a feature of T. rex vertebra.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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I had understood that the distinctive honeycomb was a feature of T. rex vertebra.

Chas, that’s slightly ambiguous (unintentionally so, I’m sure). :)

Do you mean distinctive only when present in the vertebrae… and how far away from “unique” is distinctive?

I had thought the honeycomb feature was characteristic of most of the large bones in T rex, and especially in the skull (for weight reduction reasons).

If that alone is not distinctive enough, I would guess that (without teeth) the best chance of positively identifying T rex would come from a sizeable piece from the upper jaw/skull.

Supposing you had a piece with a thick cortical layer and a honeycomb interior that was large enough to tell that the skull was narrow at the snout and widened dramatically to the rear end, had fused nasals and the tip of the upper jaw was U-shaped rather than V-shaped?

Would that be enough? If it were, I wonder how much smaller as a fragment could you theoretically go for it to be affordable and still be sure. Still sounds like it would be out of most people’s price range. :(

Roger

I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling]

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The way that Pete Larsen described Sue's discovery of her infamous T. rex namesake (in Rex Appeal) seemed to say that the internal 'honeycomb' structure of a vertebra was proof positive of the identity of the fossil. Specific internal skull structures, I have read, are the tell for theropods in general.

Maybe JPC will find this discussion and educate me on this. I am pretty sure what he will have to say about 'positive' IDs of miscellaneous bone scraps...

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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