Is This Hadrosaur Egg Real?

[Ty2kman]

Hello,

I recently acquired a Hadrosaur egg and was wondering if this is real or not? It came with paperwork that it is from the Xixia Basin, Henan Province in China. I am skeptical of its authenticity and was wondering if I can get some opinions and maybe even some advice on proving its authenticity. I am new to this hobby and do not want to get taken advantage of. Let me know what you think, all opinions are considered. Thanks for your help! Check out my photo bucket below:

http://s42.photobucket.com/user/Ty2kman/slideshow/Dinosaur

[Down under fossil hunter]

From the photo it could be real or fake, there just isn't enough detail.

The colour/size/shape of the the egg and the matrix are right and they are quite common so they are all positive signs.

The best way to be sure is to buy it from a very trustworthy dealer or direct from the source, or better yet find it yourself. :-)

If you are new to the hobby and don't want to be taken advantage of I would suggest avoiding items like dinosaur eggs and claws at least in the short term, these items are often faked and sometimes can have a lot of undisclosed restoration/enhancement.

If that is your passion though, there are a lot of really good books that will teach you a lot and give you a better understanding of what a real unaltered specimen should look like.

Good luck

[snolly50]

As Down under fossil hunter has just observed, it has a correct "look." One strong caution - avoid any urge to wash it! This matrix is extremely hydrophilic and will rapidly absorb water and leave you with a handful of mud and fragments! The white deposit on the shell may be removed by careful scraping with the side (not point) of a c-shaped dental pick and gentle clearing the residue with a barely moistened paper towel. As you can see this would be a long tedious process, but it produces a beautiful display piece. However, I can't be certain from the photos how much shell is actually present and this would dictate, if it is best to move on prepping. That is, the more shell the better it will look "cleaned up." Others may have superior prep suggestions. Alternately, you could just leave it alone.

I feel it is a "real" egg, but of course cannot be certain from the available info. Have fun.

[Ridgehiker]

Very unlikely to be legitimate. 99% of these are fakes.

A note...the Tyrell did a study of Dino eggs in academic scientific collections...over 80% were determined NOT to be eggs. This was among specimens that were legitimate and mistaken.

There's nobody who can tell you a specimen is a legitimate egg without extensive testing. Not Dino palaeontologists or anyone else. Certainly not anyone making up a 'certificate' of authenticity.

I live in Alberta, have collected thousands of Dino specimens, have visited egg sites at Warren and in Montana....I would still have no clue if an egg was legit or not. Faking them is a no brainer.

[snolly50]

Hello Northstar, I seem to recall a recent post of yours which expressed a similar position, that all the items in question were fake. I'm sorry I don't recall - but I'm pretty sure the topic related to fossils of Chinese origin, as well. Your concerns are well placed, certainly now that the Chinese government has a hand in controlling export. Your very sensible and logical disdain for "certificates of authenticity" is also well conceived. You appear to have strong opinions regarding fakes and their prevalence. I would like a little more explanation regarding a couple of your assertions in an effort to satisfy my curiosity. "Faking them (dino eggs, specifically the Chinese Hadrosaur) is a no brainer." Can you elaborate on the process that you are familiar with to accomplish this? You also mention "extensive testing" to establish if a piece is legit. What tests do you envision as helpful? Thanks.

[Plantguy]

Hey Ty2kman,

Saw this thread earlier and thought I'd respond since I have a hadrosaur egg from China that looks very similar to what you have. I will outright say I know very little of dinosaurs but have purchased several pieces including this egg from different reputable dealers. I do agree with Northstar regarding there being a lot of the fake eggs--all you have to do is browse ebay without going anywhere else and you'll see lots of claims some much more realistic than others. And those are the bad replicas!

Having said that I purchased my egg from a dealer years ago who is still in business and I still feel good about the deal. Here are the pictures of the side/base and closeup of the item I have. Its matrix and shell color and shell fracture pattern look very similar to yours.

In the closeup you can also see very small light gray spots that reflect the pores of the shell---I cant tell if that feature exists in yours. The egg is very dense and remarkedly weighs at least 7-8 lbs. I'll stop here from making any further comparisons from photos as none of this is diagnostic.

I'll let the dinosaur experts cover authenticity issues of mine and yours--that's way out of my league for sure. From what I understand most eggs have had some prep work done on them to at least keep the shell material from flaking off and have incurred other repairs as well in addition to stabilizing some of the matrix. I believe mine to be real with some type of preservation but just cant prove it. If it turned out somehow to be a fake I'd be happy with it as it still would be an awesome detailed replica.

Regards, Chris

[Ty2kman]

Hello everyone! Thanks for the responses I have received.

Plantguy- It does seem to look like we have a very similar egg and could have came from the same area in China even because of the looks from the soil that remains on both of our eggs.