Restored Or Natural Mosasaur Jaws - What Details To Look For?

[AJ Plai]

Mosasaur jaws are one of the fossils that are very commonly available in the market, which can be suitable for novice collectors with moderate budget to get their hands on but also can be quite risky due to the many fakes, composites and restored specimens flooding the market. But they are still one of my favorite creatures that fascinate me to collect and study them as much as I can.

I think I can pretty much tell a completely faked or composited specimens from the restored and genuine ones from looking at the differences in teeth on the jaw (using different species teeth to make a fake jaw) or how the jaws are unnaturally formed with lack of bone texture details. But when we look at restored specimens that probably used real mosasaur jaw it becomes much harder for me (and probably many others) to tell how good the restoration workmanship is, how much has been restored or how much materials are composite - at least on the more "natural-looking" specimens that are in a different price league than the common "composites & fakes" that you see all the time in the market.

So I am wondering how the experts are able to tell which one has a better workmanship? For example this one:

From what I gathered (and partly guess) this one is a restored specimen using real jaw piece from an actual mosasaur with some teeth replacement and refitting for decorative purposes. I can see the jaw bone seem to have bone grain and texture that looks authentic and to my knowledge, a composite made from grounded mosasaur bone and matrix wouldn't display this kind of feature, am I wrong? How would the experts weigh in on this specimen?

And how does this specimen compare to another specimen (pictures in following post, since I ran out of upload limit for the original post) in terms workmanship and authentic feel for a restored mosasaur jaw?

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[AJ Plai]

These 2 specimens (which I believe are good quality restored specimen compared to the common composites and fakes) look very similar in terms of workmanship and quality compared to the real natural specimens that tend to cost many times more, but tend to not look as "neat and tidy" as the examples shown here. Undoubtedly due to their naturally-found states which tend to be crumbles of bones fragments and loose teeth.

Edited July 30, 2014 by AJ Plai

[Troodon]

AJ, well it all depends on what you are looking for but I like the top one just because it looks more real as to the placement of the teeth. I cannot comment on how real the jaws bones are, both are different.

This may be a fine line or being picky but I do not categorize these jaws as being restored they are fabricated. A restored specimen is one where its found largely in tack and through restoration you bring it to some level of completness. To get that "neat and tidy" look that you speak of it needs to be fabricated and as you know Morocco is full of shops that produce these specimens.

[jpc]

AJ, well it all depends on what you are looking for but I like the top one just because it looks more real as to the placement of the teeth. I cannot comment on how real the jaws bones are, both are different.

This may be a fine line or being picky but I do not categorize these jaws as being restored they are fabricated. A restored specimen is one where its found largely in tack and through restoration you bring it to some level of completness. To get that "neat and tidy" look that you speak of it needs to be fabricated and as you know Morocco is full of shops that produce these specimens.

I agree.. there is a huge difference between restored and fabricated, and Troodon has explained it nicely.

[-Andy-]

Supposedly the area between the tooth and the jaw is a big indication.

If you see that the tooth root is of a different color from the jaw, then it's restored.

Another way to tell is if there are matrix between the tooth and jaw.