-Andy- Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hi all. I am currently looking for a genuine Basilosaurus tooth. Problem is, the market is too heavily saturated with other Archaeocetes like Dorudon or Zygorhiza. As far as I understand, if a tooth comes from Western Sahara of Morocco, and is over 10cm in length including root, there's a chance it could be cf. Basilosaurus isis. Here I have several candidates. Tooth A - 6 inches in length Tooth B - 5.5 inches in length Tooth C and D - 6 inches along the curve Is there any way I can positively ID out a Basilosaurus tooth? Do any of these 4 teeth look like one? 1 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Unlikely, given that these are all anterior teeth which are morphologically uninformative amongst archaeocetes. Gingerich and Zouhri (2015) just reported a middle Eocene archaeocete fauna from Morocco but found no Basilosaurus - instead a large basilosaurid, formerly considered a protocetid - Eocetus schweinfurthi - is known instead. The basilosaurid Platyosphys and possibly the protocetid Pappocetus are additional candidates for these teeth. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Andy- Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Unlikely, given that these are all anterior teeth which are morphologically uninformative amongst archaeocetes. Gingerich and Zouhri (2015) just reported a middle Eocene archaeocete fauna from Morocco but found no Basilosaurus - instead a large basilosaurid, formerly considered a protocetid - Eocetus schweinfurthi - is known instead. The basilosaurid Platyosphys and possibly the protocetid Pappocetus are additional candidates for these teeth. Thank you for the info. If I wanted a definite Basilosaurus tooth, is there any type of teeth, or locality I should go for? 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Jackson Group, Mississippi-Alabama region in the US is pretty much the only place you can legally get Basilosaurus worldwide - other place is Egypt, but fossils and antiquities are very regulated and the Basilosaurus locality - Wadi al Hitan - is essentially like a national park of sorts (UNESCO World Heritage site). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Basilosaurus is the only fossil that is legally "protected" in Alabama: it is illegal to remove any Basilosaurus specimen from the state without the written permission of the Governor. Not that I've ever heard of the law being enforced. I suspect legislators were thinking of complete skeletons, not isolated teeth or vertebrae, when they passed the law, though it is not written that way. Don 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Andy- Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 Thank you for the info. I suspect getting a definite Basilosaurus tooth is outta the question unless I'm willing to pay a 4-digit price. I'll look into Moroccan Basilosaurids to see if I can at least try to decipher the species. 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirlspup Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Does this look like a Basilosaurus tooth? My husband found it in South Carolina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrophyseter Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Does this look like a Basilosaurus tooth? My husband found it in South Carolina. seems like a dinosaur tooth to me... A basilosaurus tooth dosent normally have a crown that big, and the crown is a bit too "bent" (wrong word?). Plus, anyone know any good online shops that sell bargain basilosaurus (or any eocene whale) teeth? If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) Does this look like a Basilosaurus tooth? My husband found it in South Carolina.It's neither a Basilosaurus or Dinosaur Tooth. Might be a tusk but I'm not very knowledgeable in this area.You might get additional responses if you post this as a separate topic also under the ID section. Edited August 17, 2016 by Troodon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdda Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 (edited) Basilosaurus from Morocco Eocene age Marine vertebrate fossils Edited June 16, 2017 by Bdda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Andy- Posted June 16, 2017 Author Share Posted June 16, 2017 1 hour ago, Bdda said: Basilosaurus from Morocco Eocene age Marine vertebrate fossils Are you sure you posted the correct first picture? 1 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdda Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 On 7/17/2017 at 7:18 AM, Bdda said: Yes The first picture is not of teeth. Those are claws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 On 6/16/2017 at 8:53 AM, Bdda said: Basilosaurus from Morocco 1 hour ago, Still_human said: The first picture is not of teeth. Those are claws The one on the right is a piece of bone carved to look like a claw. Not sure about the one on the left, but looks more like a real claw than the other. But neither are basilosaurus, or teeth. @Bdda, I suggest You post pictures of these "claws" in the "is it real" sub forum. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/forum/190-is-it-real-how-to-recognize-fossil-fabrications/ The basilosaurus tooth is nice. 1 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 10 hours ago, ynot said: The one on the right is a piece of bone carved to look like a claw. Not sure about the one on the left, but looks more like a real claw than the other. But neither are basilosaurus, or teeth. @Bdda, I suggest You post pictures of these "claws" in the "is it real" sub forum. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/forum/190-is-it-real-how-to-recognize-fossil-fabrications/ The basilosaurus tooth is nice. He has not been on the forum for the past year but both claws look fabricated 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Troodon said: He has not been on the forum for the past year but both claws look fabricated Oh well, Maybe He will see this sometime in the future. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 The claw on the left looks especially faked given that it is cancellous bone with grain running in/out of the picture and thus perpendicular to the long axis of the "claw". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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