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Is This Dinosaur Fossil Real?


MetalPhoenix

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I got this 15 or 20 years ago, and have always been fascinated with it. Over the years, I've read different things that say "if you have a fossil dinosaur that looks like it laid down and died in a perfect position, then it's not real." So now I find The Fossil Forum, and it looks like there are folks here who know about these things, and who might be able to help me figure out the mystery. Any opinions? I really appreciate your help, thank you in advance!

 

 

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It looks a bit suspect to me. 

You might take pictures from directly above the skull, ribs, and feet. 

Let's see what the experts say. 

 

@Troodon  @LordTrilobite @hxmendoza

 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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I’m no expert, but I think it’s inlayed into fake matrix, looks real to me though. Head is suspicious though....

wait for those experts who actually know what their talking about.

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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Do you have a locality of where it's from.  Any possibility of higher definition images of the specimen especially the skull.

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I don't know where it's from... just took some high-res pictures, and sized so I can upload. Coming up...

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I'm looking at this on my phone but will have to take another look when I get on my tablet. But it looks very real.  A juvie which was cut in a slab and laid on that broken plate. The bones look natural.  The color of the bone is what I've seen before and might get you a locality in asia

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i'm not even close to being an expert on this. 

But those close up shots of the bones look pretty good to me. 

It's either real or a brilliant fake. 

I say real. 

And really beautiful, too! :)

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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I agree with @darrow, it looks like Psittacosaurus.

 

Looks quite real to me, but there's something about how it rests on the matrix that's weird. It might be inlayed onto the slab, but that doesn't mean it's fake.

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!

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No guarantee of course but I've see similar preservation from Yixian Fm in Liaoning China.  They can be found in other regions of China and of course Mongolia.  Your skeleton is about the same size as mine and it was identified as a baby.  I dont see any foreign placed bones which is cool, all looks very natural.  Looks like there is some repair probable fractures when the bottom slab was broken.  Overall a nice authentic skeleton with a high percentage bone count which is very rare, most are partially composited.  Could stand for some prep to repair the damaged bone, expose some and clean up some areas but i would not do more than that.  A little work and it would look even nicer.

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Guys, this is amazing. Thank you deeply for the insights and feedback!

 

Toodon: You say here that this piece could use some more "prep" to repair and clean up a little bit. Can anyone here recommend someone that would be honest and reasonable to do this kind of thing, who I could talk to about it? Thanks so much for the help!

 

 

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13 minutes ago, MetalPhoenix said:

Guys, this is amazing. Thank you deeply for the insights and feedback!

 

Toodon: You say here that this piece could use some more "prep" to repair and clean up a little bit. Can anyone here recommend someone that would be honest and reasonable to do this kind of thing, who I could talk to about it? Thanks so much for the help!

 

 

 

Although I've only engaged their service for eggs, White River Preparium seem to be experienced in prepping skeleton-type fossils. I've heard good things about them. You could email Sandy and Ed Gerken at: wriverprep@aol.com

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!

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1 hour ago, MetalPhoenix said:

Guys, this is amazing. Thank you deeply for the insights and feedback!

 

Toodon: You say here that this piece could use some more "prep" to repair and clean up a little bit. Can anyone here recommend someone that would be honest and reasonable to do this kind of thing, who I could talk to about it? Thanks so much for the help!

 

 

Ditto,  I use White River Prep in South Dakota and they are very familiar with dinosaur prep but none of them are cheap.   Send them pictures and see what they say. 

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OK, cool... just wrote to White River Prep, thanks for the tip. Does anyone know who I could talk to about getting this thing evaluated in terms of what it might be worth? I had been thinking that it might be fake for awhile now, but now that it's looking like it's real, I'd like to talk to someone who deals in these things that's trustworthy. Thanks again.

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I agree that this looks like a Psittacosaurus. And it looks mostly real too. Yes, it has been mounted on a separate slab that does not belong with the fossil. But the matrix surrounding the bones looks authentic. The animal is in a mostly lifelike position, but it's also not so perfect that it looks fake. The bones themselves all look real and I don't see any immediate red flags. the only thing that looks a little weird and beat up is the skull. But this might just be because of damage and the fossilisation process. Psittacosaurus is probably the most common Chinese dinosaur so it's not unheard of to have a complete authentic skeleton.

 

The anatomy seems consistent with that of Psittacosaurus. Though since the skull is a little beat up it's hard to tell exactly for sure. I have replica cast of a young Psittacosaurus and an adult Psittacosaurus that might be good as reference. I have some photos here in these threads.

 

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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Nice skeleton, great find.:dinothumb:

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"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

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Looks legitimate to me. I agree with the positive assessments here. The skull is a bit strange looking. The pics just aren’t helping clarify that. But without looking at it in person I won’t comment more on it. The pose seems perfectly fine to me.

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