Underlying color of chipped fossil

[AvidArchRival]

Hi all,

I would like some info on what I'd expect to see on a chipped fossilized bone.

Should the color be identical to the bone outside? Or can the newly exposed area show a different color (e.g. different from the bone but similar to the matrix)?

And what about dark colored fossilized teeth? Should the chip on a tooth show a similar dark color? Or should it show a color similar to the matrix the tooth was found in?

Reason I'm asking is because I'm told if a fossilized bone is scrapped or chipped, and the newly-exposed part shows a different color, then it's likely to be a fake. But I've also seen genuine chipped fossils with a different color at the chip.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[lissa318]

Fossils can show a variety of colors on/or in the same bone due to mineralization.

Edited May 21, 2016 by lissa318

[JohnJ]

....

Reason I'm asking is because I'm told if a fossilized bone is scrapped or chipped, and the newly-exposed part shows a different color, then it's likely to be a fake. But I've also seen genuine chipped fossils with a different color at the chip.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

The advice you have been given about color is an errant, oversimplification.

Lissa's comment and your own experience seeing genuine chipped fossils are evidence that "fakes" cannot be solely determined by color.

[Darktooth]

One example I can give is bones that I have found at calvert cliffs often are tan color on the outside and darker (brown) in the middle. (When dried) As for as teeth go I have found teeth the same color all the way through and I have found teethwith different colors.As lissa318 said, it has to do with how the fossil was mineralized.

[tmaier]

What the person was warning you about was cast or carved fakes. A cast is a painted plaster cast, and scratching the surface shows the casting materials beneath it. A carved fake is carved into the matrix, and likewise scratching it will expose the medium underneath. So that part is true.

But also what the people above say is true, that the surface can have a different color than rest of the fossil on the inside. If there is matrix attached, it shouldn't be identical to the matrix, though, and it shouldn't be plaster.

[Auspex]

Weathering can also alter the surface colors.

[AvidArchRival]

Thanks for the input, everyone.