Real Mosasaur Jaw?

[Max-fossils]

Hello fossil-lovers!

 

What do you think of this fossil jaw: is it real or fake? It seems a bit too perfect to me.

The seller told me it was a mosasaur jaw from Brazil. It definitely looks like mosasaur material (teeth), but I've never heard of a mosasaur from Brazil, and in my books there isn't a single mention of any mosasaur species found in Brazil. I bought the fossil in a small shop selling only fossils and minerals (not online), somewhere in Auvergne, France.

 

In my opinion: real teeth, stuck into a fake jaw.

 

What do you think?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Max

[Max-fossils]

[Fossildude19]

These are Moroccan mosasaur teeth, set in faked jaws/matrix.  

Very common. 

People have put these in water, only to find the tooth crowns left, with a bunch of sand. 

Keep it dry if you want to preserve the "look" of a real fossil.  

Regards,

 

 

EDIT: LINK to IMAGES

[Max-fossils]

Just now, Fossildude19 said:

These are Moroccan mosasaur teeth, set in faked jaws/matrix.  

Very common. 

People have put these in water, only to find the tooth crowns left, with a bunch of sand. 

Keep it dry if you want to preserve the "look" of a real fossil.  

Regards,

 

OK, thank you.

I am kind of sad its fake. Even though its still good-looking. 

 

Max

[Fossildude19]

Unfortunately, many of these sell as real.  

You are not the only one to be fooled by them. - Keep it as is, and yeah, it's still kind of cool.  

[Max-fossils]

Just now, Fossildude19 said:

Unfortunately, many of these sell as real.  

You are not the only one to be fooled by them. - Keep it as is, and yeah, it's still kind of cool.  

Indeed...

 

I do have another question though: I bought this (dinosaur?) coprolite from the same shop. Does it seem real to you?

 

Thanks again,

 

Max

[Max-fossils]

[Max-fossils]

[LordTrilobite]

Yes fake jaw. Pieces of random bone glued together and put into a piece of matrix (probably just sand and glue as well) and some real mosasaur teeth. Typical Moroccan fake mosasaur jaw. Definitely not from Brazil. All pieces are likely from Morocco. Most of the teeth look like those of Prognathodon.

 

Only worth the price of the loose teeth that are in it. My advice, see if water dissolves the matrix. That way you might be able to get some nice teeth out of it.

[ynot]

4 minutes ago, Max-fossils said:

 

I do have another question though: I bought this (dinosaur?) coprolite from the same shop. Does it seem real to you?

 

@GeschWhat would probably know.

[Max-fossils]

4 minutes ago, LordTrilobite said:

Yes fake jaw. Pieces of random bone glued together and put into a piece of matrix (probably just sand and glue as well) and some real mosasaur teeth. Typical Moroccan fake mosasaur jaw. Definitely not from Brazil. All pieces are likely from Morocco. Most of the teeth look like those of Prognathodon.

 

Only worth the price of the loose teeth that are in it. My advice, see if water dissolves the matrix. That way you might be able to get some nice teeth out of it.

Well, thank you for the help!

But I won't put it in water, because even though most of it is fake, it still looks good, just like @Fossildude19 said.

 

Warm regards,

 

Max

[Max-fossils]

8 minutes ago, ynot said:

@GeschWhat would probably know.

Cool, I'll wait for her reply!

 

Thank you,

 

Max

[HamptonsDoc]

At all the large gem and mineral shows you will see tables with hundreds of "jaws" just like that one lined up for sale.  Probably real teeth but fake everything else.  Stay away.

 

Don't know anything about the poo.

[doushantuo]

If it's a dinosaur coprolite,is might show parts of its diet,perhaps even macroscopically.

I doubt if pointing out that it might show a higher phosporous and organic carbon content than the surrounding sediment is useful,but there you go.

Fish scales,pine needles,accidentally ingested sediment,it might all be in there.

Provided its no fake

I think it's fake,btw.

Based on a (horrible pun coming) gut feeling

[doushantuo]

It might show:

desiccation cracking

decalcified bone(as a result of the digestion process)

an imprint of the morphology of the intestine

Btw : A Spearman Rank correlation test or Kruskal one-way analysis of variance is usually performed,to determine if the distribution of indicators* is different from a random one 

*e.g. fish scales,conchostracan shells,vegetative debris,pollen

a good coprolite paper,showing and discussing the morphology of spiral coprolites

https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/3667/paleo.paper.114op.pdf?sequence=3

[Max-fossils]

8 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

If it's a dinosaur coprolite,is might show parts of its diet,perhaps even macroscopically.

I doubt if pointing out that it might show a higher phosporous and organic carbon content than the surrounding sediment is useful,but there you go.

Fish scales,pine needles,iaccidentally ingested sediment,it might all be in there.

Provided its no fake

 

10 minutes ago, HamptonsDoc said:

At all the large gem and mineral shows you will see tables with hundreds of "jaws" just like that one lined up for sale.  Probably real teeth but fake everything else.  Stay away.

 

Don't know anything about the poo.

Thanks both for your help!

 

As to for in the coprolite, I don't know how to recognize those things...

 

Best regards,

 

Max

[Troodon]

Everyone sells coprolite from dinosaurs unfortunately there were tons of other creatures around at the time.  It's very difficult to determine what produced it.

 

A photo from 2016 Tucson fossil show.  This example  is repeated each time you walk into a Moroccan tent.

 

 

[doushantuo]

The Hansen thesis, a thoroughly enjoyable study of coprolites:

Hansen 2014 - Greenland Coprolites - MsC thesis.pdf

Something has hit the fan ,alright

[RJB]

Troodon got it right on the money.  These jaws are everywhere.  im sorry that you were fooled, but almost all of us have been fooled a time or two.  The way things are today with the purchasing of fossils one does have to be careful.  I myself quit buying fossils years ago, but even me, The Great RB,   has been fooled many times.  Hang in there.  

  Oh, your dino poo looks very much like the poo that used to come out of salmon creek in Washington.  Im perty sure it isn't dino poo, but who knows. 

 

RB

[GeschWhat]

2 hours ago, ynot said:

@GeschWhat would probably know.

 

2 hours ago, Max-fossils said:

Indeed...

 

I do have another question though: I bought this (dinosaur?) coprolite from the same shop. Does it seem real to you?

 

Thanks again,

 

Max

The jury is still out on these "coprolites." It is most likely from Madagascar. I personally think they are the result of iron rich mud being squeezed through fissures in the surface during volcanic events. Similar psuedocoprolites can be found from the Wilkes Formation in Washington State. Unless you can find bone or scale inclusions, it is somewhat doubtful that it is a coprolite. If it is a coprolite, it would not be from a dinosaur, as most of  these are found in Paleocene sediments. If it is coprolite, it could be from a turtle. Until further studies are done, I just refer to them as Earth squirts.

[Max-fossils]

4 hours ago, Troodon said:

Everyone sells coprolite from dinosaurs unfortunately there were tons of other creatures around at the time.  It's very difficult to determine what produced it.

 

A photo from 2016 Tucson fossil show.  This example  is repeated each time you walk into a Moroccan tent.

 

 

Wow, that's a very disappointing sight...

But thanks for the help!

[Max-fossils]

3 hours ago, RJB said:

Troodon got it right on the money.  These jaws are everywhere.  im sorry that you were fooled, but almost all of us have been fooled a time or two.  The way things are today with the purchasing of fossils one does have to be careful.  I myself quit buying fossils years ago, but even me, The Great RB,   has been fooled many times.  Hang in there.  

  Oh, your dino poo looks very much like the poo that used to come out of salmon creek in Washington.  Im perty sure it isn't dino poo, but who knows. 

 

RB

 

2 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

 

The jury is still out on these "coprolites." It is most likely from Madagascar. I personally think they are the result of iron rich mud being squeezed through fissures in the surface during volcanic events. Similar psuedocoprolites can be found from the Wilkes Formation in Washington State. Unless you can find bone or scale inclusions, it is somewhat doubtful that it is a coprolite. If it is a coprolite, it would not be from a dinosaur, as most of  these are found in Paleocene sediments. If it is coprolite, it could be from a turtle. Until further studies are done, I just refer to them as Earth squirts.

Thanks both for your thorough help on the coprolite! Could you tell me how to recognize bone pieces or scales in coprolite?

 

Thanks a lot,

 

Max

[GeschWhat]

56 minutes ago, Max-fossils said:

 

Thanks both for your thorough help on the coprolite! Could you tell me how to recognize bone pieces or scales in coprolite?

 

Thanks a lot,

 

Max

They will usually be of a different color and texture...usually shinier than the rest of the coprolite. Here are a few examples. The first one is from the Triassic Bull Canyon Formation in New Mexico. Both scales and bones usually present white from this formation. The second is from the Jurassic Oxford Clay near Peterborough, UK. Bone and scales in this formation usually appear brown. The third is from the Cretaceous Wadhurst Clay Formation. Bone and scales in these coprolites appear dark brown to black. Colors can also vary within formations. I guess the main thing to look for is a variance in texture. I hope this helps!

 

[Max-fossils]

1 hour ago, GeschWhat said:

They will usually be of a different color and texture...usually shinier than the rest of the coprolite. Here are a few examples. The first one is from the Triassic Bull Canyon Formation in New Mexico. Both scales and bones usually present white from this formation. The second is from the Jurassic Oxford Clay near Peterborough, UK. Bone and scales in this formation usually appear brown. The third is from the Cretaceous Wadhurst Clay Formation. Bone and scales in these coprolites appear dark brown to black. Colors can also vary within formations. I guess the main thing to look for is a variance in texture. I hope this helps!

 

Very interesting...

Unfortunately, I don't see any such details in mine. Unless all the brown is bones/scales? That would surprise me though.

 

Anyways thanks for your help,

 

Max

[DNF]

23 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

I just refer to them as Earth squirts.

Lol. That's so... graphic.