Common Misidentifications

[megabass22]

Howdy all.

 

I'm one of those that value correct id's when it comes to fossils, so I thought that I'd post some common misidentifications often seen in anything from gift shops to proffessional collections. If you know any other misidentifications you are welcome to post them here

 

First up are the "Orthoceras" slabs coming out of Morocco (all these misidentifications are of moroccan fossils). Orthoceras currently only contains 1 species, which is only known from my general area (Northern Europe), based on my research, the species originally called "Orthoceras fluminese" is the correct ID for the moroccan orthocones, and this species is today known as "Orthocycloceras fluminese".

 

Second, another paleozoic invertebrate, the Moroccan calymenids are very common and are often labelled as "Calymene" or "Diacalymene", but neither genus exist in Morocco. The correct species for these trilobites is "Flexicalymene ouzregui".

 

Third, we have the Moroccan Globidens teeth, these are often sold as "Globidens aegypticus", a species that according to both Wikipedia and the Paleobiology Database doesn't exist. The name you're looking for is "Globidens phosphaticus".

 

Lastly, we have another mosasaur. "Mosasaurus anceps" or "Prognathodon anceps" teeth are quite common on the market, but they do in fact belong to "Liodon anceps", sometimes teeth labelled as "Prognathodon sp." Will belong to Liodon as well.

 

I hope this helped

[Ludwigia]

While we're at it with Moroccan fossils, I could add Mammites "mamalis" to the list, which is an ammonite from the upper cretaceous in the Atlas mountains commonly found on the market under that name. Most of them originate from an area called Goulmima and should be correctly named Mammites nodosoides, although other species also rarely occur. At any rate, the name "mamalis" is the figment of somebody's imagination.

[Auspex]

Beyond the tangled scientific taxonomies, there are many misinterpretations that have entered popular folklore. Two that are so oft repeated as to be broadly taken as fact are that the Eocene bird Presbyornis was a flamingo (nope), and that the Oligocene White River bird eggs are duck eggs (again, nope).

[TqB]

Moroccan again - there's a lot of coral being offered that is labelled as Devonian Hexagonaria.

Much of it is actually Carboniferous Actinocyathus (formerly Lonsdaleia). It's lovely stuff though, here's one I bought:

Edited July 31, 2014 by TqB

[-Andy-]

I will offer my bit on the three most common dinosaur eggs from China.

 

"Hadrosaur eggs" - There have never been any meaningful embryonic remains ever found from any of the so-called hadrosaur eggs, in short we have no way of knowing if they really are from hadrosaurs. They are called that simply because they bear a similarity to genuine hadrosaur eggs from other egg sites. Their proper oogenera naming is "Dendroolithus sp."

 

"Oviraptor eggs" and "Citipati eggs" - Although there have been baby dinosaurs found from these, we should not prematurely just label all of them "oviraptor", or the bigger ones as "citipati". The only thing we know for sure is that they are from theropods. Any further classification should be done through examination of the eggshell with a microscope. The proper oogenera naming is "Elongatoolithus sp."

 

"Segnosaur eggs" or "Therizinosaur eggs" - Similar to oviraptor eggs, but these ones are indeed quite likely to belong to the dinosaur they are named after. Still, one cannot be conclusive about the species of dinosaur unless lab testing and careful examination is done. The proper oogenera naming is "Spheroolithus sp."

http://www.stonecompany.com/dinoeggs/study/eggstudy.html

[paleoflor]

Since these are iconic pseudofossils, I am probably preaching to the choir here, however these are not plant fossils, but dendrites.

These mineralizations are often identified as "moss" or "fern", while they basically are a mineral habit (okay, a "tree-like" form, but still). Dendritic crystal forms precipitate under diffusion limited growth conditions.

 

Only once I encountered the reverse-mistake, when a dealer refused to sell me a perfectly fine fern fossil, because it was a dendrite and I made a "common mistake". Both me and an (also plant fossil-collecting) friend could not convince the man that this actually was a fern fossil (you could see the leaf lamina, etc.)

[megabass22]

Great submissions everyone! They ' ll surely help people to ID (or re - ID ) fossils in the future

[painshill]

... First up are the "Orthoceras" slabs coming out of Morocco (all these misidentifications are of moroccan fossils). Orthoceras currently only contains 1 species, which is only known from my general area (Northern Europe), based on my research, the species originally called "Orthoceras fluminese" is the correct ID for the moroccan orthocones, and this species is today known as "Orthocycloceras fluminese"...

As you say, Orthoceras currently has only one valid species which is oft-repeated as Orthoceras regulare [schlotheim, 1820] - because that’s what it says in Wiki (which references the Treatise). I believe that to be a misprint and it should actually be Orthoceras regularis, although it’s correct that it’s reported only from parts of Northern and Eastern Europe (but not from Morocco). There are then 30-plus species of Orthoceras which either have been reassigned or are awaiting decisions on reassignment.

Orthoceras fluminense [Meneghini, 1857] which also had the synonym Orthoceras bohemicum was then recombined as Orthocycloceras fluminense by Kröger (2008) and is known from Morocco (but also the Czech Republic).

However, although Orthocycloceras fluminense is certainly reported from Morocco, I understood that the bulk of those shiny black Moroccan “gift shop” items were actually Michelinoceras michelini [barrande, 1866], formerly known as Orthoceras michelini and previously reported (only?) from Italy. That identification came from Dr Neale Monks who was until recently the London Natural History Museum’s expert on heteromorphs. I understand that he based the identification on examination of original Moroccan specimens before they had been polished.

[PS: Good idea to start this thread. I hope it gets many more additions]

Edited July 31, 2014 by painshill

[steedman]

I regularly see mid devonian fish from Orkney classified wrongly. A dealer in the UK currently has an osteolepis macrolepidotus for sale, mis identified as osteo' panderi, from the sandwich fish beds (hope it tastes good) as being early devonian, despite the fact that panderi are never found in the Sandwick fish beds, and that they are mid devonian. Still, it's only a hundred million years give or take.......

[AJ Plai]

A great topic that will undoubtedly be useful for novice and experts alike.

This particular misidentified fossil that I encounter most often in my country is rogosa horn coral misidentified (often intentionally by shady antique and flee market dealers) as dinosaur teeth, spikes and giant crocodile teeth.

They are usually sold like this:

Edited August 1, 2014 by AJ Plai

[painshill]

Turritella agate from the Green River Formation, Wyoming is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a “marble”, which it isn’t because its silicified. And the spiral gastropods are not marine Turritella, they’re freshwater Elimia tenera (synonym Goniobasis tenera).

Edited August 1, 2014 by painshill

[painshill]

Fossil “wasp nests” from Australia, which are actually cemented pupal cocoons of the large weevil Leptopius duponti (and not necessarily fossilised):

[megabass22]

Painshill: Hmmm... I guess it would be near impossible to tell the polished ones apart...

Why do they really polish them anyway? I always liked un-polished ones better (which are near-impossible to buy from morocco).

AJ Plai: I've seen rugose corals identified as everything from mosasaur teeth to stegosaur thagomizer

[painshill]

Painshill: Hmmm... I guess it would be near impossible to tell the polished ones apart...

Why do they really polish them anyway? I always liked un-polished ones better (which are near-impossible to buy from morocco).

Yes... after they're polished an ID is almost out of the question. They do crop up as unpolished specimens which are worth almost zero in the fossil market. They fetch a better (but still rather low) price as decorative items for sale to non-palaeontologists. As always from Morocco, there are fakes out there too, using polished specimens assembled into fanciful composites to make bowls, trinket-boxes, ash-trays and such.

[megabass22]

It appears the topic died :I

Anyways, i thought i could add in a few more things. Often, common fossils are sold without an ID, most often simply labelled "Shark tooth" or "Trilobite". For cases such as that, i recommend looking through the ID section of the forum, chances are someone posted a similar fossil to yours and got it correctly ID´d, or you can just start a new topic (like i always do).

Here are some more common misidentifications:

Whilst significantly rarer than mosasaur teeth, plesiosaur teeth are found in Khourigba in Morocco relatively often. These are often sold as either "Plesiosaurus sp." or "Plesiosaurus maureticanus". The second name is a numen dubium, and in case you have a moroccan plesiosaur tooth, it probably belonged to Zarafasaura oceanis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarafasaura)

There are pterosaur teeth found in the (awesome) Kem Kem formation, and these are regularily misidentified. I´ve seen anything from Pterodactylus to Pteranodon (Pteranodon didn´t even have teeth! It´s name means TOOTHLESS wing!), but they are in fact truly unidentifieable, but they can be assigned to one of two species with relative confidence, either Siroccopteryx moroccanis or Alanqa saharica.

[jpevahouse]

I see a lot of equus molars often identified as "three toed horse" for sale on online auctions. I suspect that not every horse tooth found in bone valley is from a three toed horse. But if I were to believe what eBay sellers say they are all three toed horses.

Edited August 9, 2014 by jpevahouse

[Wrangellian]

Yes... after they're polished an ID is almost out of the question. They do crop up as unpolished specimens which are worth almost zero in the fossil market. ...

Surprises me to hear that... A dealer at a show this year had an unpolished (naturally weathered) plate of these about 7 or 8" sq. as I recall, he wanted $60 or more, I offered $50 and he said he wouldn't be making any money if he gave it to me for that!

[painshill]

Surprises me to hear that... A dealer at a show this year had an unpolished (naturally weathered) plate of these about 7 or 8" sq. as I recall, he wanted $60 or more, I offered $50 and he said he wouldn't be making any money if he gave it to me for that!

Then either he's over-paying or expecting you to. Over here you can pick up polished specimens twice that size for about £20-25 ($30-40) from dealers. It's unusual to see natural slabs but the few I have seen were dirt cheap.

[Wrangellian]

Then either he's over-paying or expecting you to. Over here you can pick up polished specimens twice that size for about £20-25 ($30-40) from dealers. It's unusual to see natural slabs but the few I have seen were dirt cheap.

Yes the polished ones are easy to get, but I rarely see the unpolished ones too, not sure why (am I the only demand for them?). If you see any more cheap natural plates let me know!

[siteseer]

Not long ago (in the years before the Fossil Forum), someone suggested that the Moroccan Orthoceras were not Orthoceras but "Geisonceras." Does anyone know where that came from?

As you say, Orthoceras currently has only one valid species which is oft-repeated as Orthoceras regulare [schlotheim, 1820] - because that’s what it says in Wiki (which references the Treatise). I believe that to be a misprint and it should actually be Orthoceras regularis, although it’s correct that it’s reported only from parts of Northern and Eastern Europe (but not from Morocco). There are then 30-plus species of Orthoceras which either have been reassigned or are awaiting decisions on reassignment.

Orthoceras fluminense [Meneghini, 1857] which also had the synonym Orthoceras bohemicum was then recombined as Orthocycloceras fluminense by Kröger (2008) and is known from Morocco (but also the Czech Republic).

However, although Orthocycloceras fluminense is certainly reported from Morocco, I understood that the bulk of those shiny black Moroccan “gift shop” items were actually Michelinoceras michelini [barrande, 1866], formerly known as Orthoceras michelini and previously reported (only?) from Italy. That identification came from Dr Neale Monks who was until recently the London Natural History Museum’s expert on heteromorphs. I understand that he based the identification on examination of original Moroccan specimens before they had been polished.

[PS: Good idea to start this thread. I hope it gets many more additions]

[Carcharodontosaurus]

I'll add that Carcharodontosaurus teeth from Morocco are often sold as "African T. rex" (though I haven't seen this ID in recent times), even though no tyrannosaurids are known from Africa or even the Southern Hemisphere (though megaraptorans and Santanaraptor have been identified as tyrannosauroids by some authors).

Dromaeosaur teeth have sometimes been misidentified as juvenile T. rex/Nanotyrannus teeth as well. The difference is that in dromaeosaur teeth there is a curve in the serrations on the front of the tooth that starts at the tip goes toward the midline of the flat side of the tooth, whereas in tyrannosaurids it starts lower on the crown. Tyrannosaur teeth also have sharper tips than the more rounded dromaeosaur teeth (thank you Troodon for this information).

[Cam28]

Interesting topic. How about pop culture Velociraptors actually being Deinonychus and Brontosaurus an invalid name for Apatosaurus?

[megabass22]

I believe that kind of misidentification is called a "paleofail"

Yup, those along with people still denying the unquestionable evidence that birds evolved from dinosaurs and people thinking dinosaurs were bloodthirsty monsters that would kill even when not hungry (example: the Jurassic Park "Velociraptors").

[Tidgy's Dad]

The black "Devonian Orthoceras Marble" is the Ludfordian (Upper Ludlow, Late Silurian) Temperoceras Limestone which contains many orthoconic species but by far the most common of which is Temperoceras ludense.