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Is this a real Woolly Mammoth Tooth?


Ometz Vikoach

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Hi I am new to this site and this is my first post. I have never purchased a fossil before and would appreciate some guidance.

Specifically, I am eyeing a Woolly Mammoth tooth, I found it on ebay. I'm posting the link here. Please let me know if this looks legitimate and if so is it reasonably priced? Also please let me know if it it's well rooted and other good and bad things about this tooth.

post-423-0-57053100-1456534766_thumb.jpg

Thank you in advance.

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Here is a photo of one of the prettiest mammoth tooth I have ever seen taken from the Peace river: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/54684-more-may-mammoth-mania/

So, it is a nice large tooth, a little rough on the chewing surface, and has some roots which is unusual but not GREAT roots. 5-10 years ago my local Florida fossil club auctioned 4-5 whole teeth in various conditions and they got between $150 and $300. I would say that your one on ebay is somewhat overpriced.

If you were local, I would suggest going to fossil shows in Florida and doing comparisons or contacting some local fossil dealers.

There are lots of fish in the sea, you should look around.

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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Yes definitely real.

Not sure where this tooth is from. But if it's from the North Sea, beware that they can fall apart without proper treating.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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I went and did a search at the site you found this and I have to say, there are much better specimens for the same price or cheaper. I won't post them as I think it would be supporting the site, but if you go back and look I'm sure you'll see them.

Now if you post them here and ask questions, there wouldn't be a problem. I myself have pondered buying something mammoth from the same site, but in the end, I collect because I love the hunt just as much as finding and being the first person to set eyes on and touch a wonderful treasure from Earths past. However, going to Russia is a bit on the no side at the moment, so the occasional trilobite purchase is my only means of adding to my Russian trilobite collection.

...I'm back.

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Thank you for all the responses. As suggested I will look around some more and maybe post more in this thread. Thank you very much.

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Oh I find those tiny ones all the time and toss them back cause I'm holding out for bigger specimens. Lol

 

 

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Oh I find those tiny ones all the time and toss them back cause I'm holding out for bigger specimens. Lol

Is this one of those tiny ones you found and toss back in ?post-2220-0-84509100-1456699695_thumb.jpg

I love those generous fossil hunters who toss the little ones back :P

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes definitely real.

Not sure where this tooth is from. But if it's from the North Sea, beware that they can fall apart without proper treating.

Hey I ordered it and would like to know what exactly you meant when you said it could fall apart without proper treatment, and what exactly is proper treatment?

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Hey I ordered it and would like to know what exactly you meant when you said it could fall apart without proper treatment, and what exactly is proper treatment?

Due to the salt contents, fossils from the North Sea can literally fall apart, maybe after a week, sometimes after 30 years. There's two main ways of treating. Firstly the fossils need to be desilted, submerging the fossils in fresh water and regularly refreshing the water. The longer the fossils stay in the fresh water, the better. This gets rid of some of the salt. Sometimes this is not enough though.

The other way, is basically to encase the whole thing in glue to create a sort of hard shell. When done poorly, this can look really ugly though. Basically, you take standard wood glue and mix it with water and then treat the fossils with it. Once the water has evaporated it should be more sturdy.

But this is not an exact science. Sometimes North Sea fossils don't need any treatment (though that's unwise). And sometimes even after treatment they still fall apart after years.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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Woolly Mammoth teeth plates are real close, while the Bigger Mammoths tooth plates are further apart.

I have both.

Cheers good deal if pretty decent in price.

Jeff

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I wonder what the dimensions are of that tooth? The photo reminds me of "trophy hunting" photos. I think the picture is very misleading as to the size of that tooth. It looks like the tooth is very close to the camera, and the picture is taken with a wide angle lens. I look at it 3 different ways:

1. Tooth is HUGE, wider than a mans upper torso, and man has super human strength to hold it up like that!

2. That is a very tiny man.

3. Tooth is around average and there is some trick photography going on here.

For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun.
-Aldo Leopold
 

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I have purchased some mammoth teeth and other fossils from this seller. The tooth is real and probably came from Russia not the North Sea. Yes the pictures are somewhat misleading in regards to size, however the seller usually lists the dimensions in his ads/auctions. The sellers mammoth teeth are of a very good quality and I believe you will be happy with this one as well. Check with the seller he may have already treated it with some kind of consolidant to prevent it from falling apart

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So where is the link at, if you don't mind me asking?

We don't publish links to sellers' sites. You can search for it on Ebay. ;)

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Thank You to everyone who took the time to respond. I'm going to contact the seller to see if he has already treated it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Due to the salt contents, fossils from the North Sea can literally fall apart, maybe after a week, sometimes after 30 years. There's two main ways of treating. Firstly the fossils need to be desilted, submerging the fossils in fresh water and regularly refreshing the water. The longer the fossils stay in the fresh water, the better. This gets rid of some of the salt. Sometimes this is not enough though.

The other way, is basically to encase the whole thing in glue to create a sort of hard shell. When done poorly, this can look really ugly though. Basically, you take standard wood glue and mix it with water and then treat the fossils with it. Once the water has evaporated it should be more sturdy.

But this is not an exact science. Sometimes North Sea fossils don't need any treatment (though that's unwise). And sometimes even after treatment they still fall apart after years.

Hi, the fossil is not from the north sea but I contacted him to see if he treated it and he said this: "Hello.

I treated him(easy handling-coated with a protective varnish), whatever he did.

We advise you to conduct additional treatment. that he would no longer spoiled. Please write return review. thank you.

Best regards,

Vitalik."

So his English is not that great and I'm not exactly sure what he said but he seemed to say that he did treat it and that I should treat it again occasionally, and that I should leave a nice review which I will. So do you think I should just do what you said with the glue and the water? If so I would like to know more details on how to properly dissolve and apply it so that it does not look ugly.

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Fort he wood glue and water treatment, you simply mix the 2 so that the glue is thinned out with a nice smooth texture, no lumps or anything and apply it with a sponge brush from a crafts store.

Very light coats, the ugly he is referring to happens when the glue is A) Not thinned out, and B) layered to thick.

Or at least those seem to be the 2 most common issues I have seen.

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