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Genuine Titanosaur Egg?


-Andy-

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Hi all, I have been in the search for dinosaur eggs for awhile, and recently came across this interesting specimen.

I would like to check if this looks genuine to you experts.

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It comes from the Rio Colorado Formation, and is from Auca Mahuevo, Patagonia of Argentina.

It's measurements are 80mm X 60mm X 24mm, and weights 109 grammes. (Are Titanosaur/Saltasaurus eggs even that small?)

Thoughts?

PS: I have came across many Oviraptor, Hadrosaur and Segnosaur eggs. But full Titanosaur eggs are seemingly rare, is this an illegal fossil?

Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!

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well, i cannot say for definite, and don't trust me 100%, but i do know that a) it looks authentic to me, b) i have an eggshell fragment from a saltasaurus, apparently these are dug up in south america too. saltasaurus was a large herbivore. to me it looks authentic.

I'm CRAZY about amber fossils and just as CRAZY in general.

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Size looks ok, so does colour and the shell.

I would be surprised if pieces of the shell haven't been re-attached, whether it also has composite shell pieces to make it look better is also a possibility.

This is the kind of fossil I would personally go for because it does not look perfect and looks more "real" than an egg that appears as if someone has spent days "enhancing" it to add value.

Unfortunately it is illegal to own, as are all vertebrate fossils from South America (as far as I know). I don't know if you would have trouble getting it into Singapore, it depends on if they acknowledge Argentinas cultural heritage laws.

Good luck Andy

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Andy the egg looks real but a complete titanosaur looks like a bowling ball and is about 7" (17cm) in diameter. It is currently illegal to export these from Argentina but if it was collected before they imposed the ban I believe its okay.

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A fossil is illegal if it was exported or imported illegally. As protection laws change over the years you need a complete unbroken record to prove that every time it was moved it moved legally. Some countries are less strict on import paperwork, but the situation is now very strict worldwide on export paperwork and it is up to you to prove legality, not up to the authorities to prove illegality, so it might be time to start conserving paper as carefully as fossils, if it isn't illegal now it could be in the future if you lose the paperwork.

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That is almost certainly a genuine Auca egg - I happened to have been on the first Auca expedition. And I also agree that is was illegally exported because the site was discovered while there were already stiff export laws in place.

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