Quick Tucson Trip.

[PaleoRon]

I often have people ask me what the Tucson show is like. Here is a very brief photo tour. I normally go for at least a week but this year I was only able to spend a couple of days. I didn't take many pics but here are some of the highlights. While most of the larger Moroccan fossils are manufactured, the two photos show pieces that are 100% real. It was a nice break from the cold weather in Virginia.

[Gatorman]

Great photo's got any more?

[PaleoRon]

I have more from past trips in my archives. This trip was just way too fast. Even when I'm there for a week I don't see everything. The show is huge and gets bigger every year. I am seriously thinking about retiring out there . . . if I live long enough to retire. In 25 years the retirement age may be 75 or 80. Here's some landscapes etc from this year. The pic with the tents is a place called Moroccan village. Tons of Moroccan material. Including a table of Fakeops trilobites.

[kauffy]

looks like a pretty cool show! what other fossils were they selling?

[PaleoRon]

I think a better question is, what fossils are they not selling. There are people there from all over selling almost anything you can think of. I saw dealers from Russia, China, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Mexico, Germany, France, England, Poland, Spain, Argentina, all over the U.S. and who knows where else. You could buy anything from a crinoid stem, to a complete wooly mammoth, to a complete dinosaur there. I saw a decent sized T-Rex tooth sell for just over $5000. That's a real T-Rex tooth not the unrelated so-called African t-rex from Morocco. There were complete mounts of badlands material like Oreodonts, large plates of fossil fish from several countries, as well as dozens of complete mammoth tusks from Alaska and Siberia. You could have bought a dining room sized slab of petrified wood, if you had $20,000 to burn. The first time you go is mind boggling. It is definitely the "kid in a candy store" effect. There are literally hundreds of dealers at the show selling fossils, minerals, gems, and you name it. If you could stay there for two weeks you still couldn't see everything at the show. It is a blast! If you can go you really should make plans to do it. Expect to come home penniless.

[Guest Nicholas]

Sounds awesome!! What is that skull in the photos above of exactly?

[PaleoRon]

They are two near complete skulls of an Early Eocene crocodile. They may be Dyrosaurus phosphaticus but there are a couple of different kinds of crocks from Morocco and there seems to be some confusion about the names. The most interesting thing about the pair is that they were not fake like 99% of the crock skulls for sale.

[safossils]

They are two near complete skulls of an Early Eocene crocodile. They may be Dyrosaurus phosphaticus but there are a couple of different kinds of crocks from Morocco and there seems to be some confusion about the names. The most interesting thing about the pair is that they were not fake like 99% of the crock skulls for sale.

PaleoRon,

Nice photos, the weather was nice for most of the show this year. We may have walked right past each other at the AAPS show. I made it out to a few shows, but did not catch as much as I wanted to this year. I gave up trying to take pictures of the show, there's just too much to see. I especially like the AAPS display at the Inn Suites. Living Tucson is a mixed blessing, the show is great, but the traffic snarl it creates makes for some nerve racking driving too and from work for most of February. You are spot on about the kid in the candy store effect.

Best,

Walt