Mesosaur

[HamptonsDoc]

What do you guys think of this Mesosaur?  Authentic?  Not the best quality but I haven't run across too many of these lately...figure I can always trade up for a better one in the future.  The listing says the slab is repaired from five pieces and the back is coated in plaster for stability.  Size is 11" x 25".

 

 

 

 

[HamptonsDoc]

And here is a second one...

 

 

 

 

[RCFossils]

The first specimen is a Chinese Hyphalasaur.

The second specimen is a Mesosaur

[SULLY]

+1

[SULLY]

Both good looking!

[Pemphix]

@Crazyhen

First one may have some restaurations and missing parts which are painted (part of the tail and hands/feets).

Second one seems suspicious: i think the lighter matrix of the fossil is not real (do not fit to the surrounding stoney matrix and shows bubbles). So the question automatically arises if the fossil itself is real... may it is and they just putted some mass to improve the contrast, but maybe it is not...... 

As always the legal reminder: Keep in mind, that there's export/import ban for chinese vertebrate fossils (and some others)... 

 

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

I agree with others, the two are genuine and the first is a Hyphalosaurus lingyuanensis (China), with some level of restoration:

 

 

But the definition "Mesosaur" is extremely vague, especially if we have to deal with the three species of the Mesosauridae Family of South America and Africa: Mesosaurus brasiliensis, Stereosternum tumidum Cope and Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis.  To understand a little better, Stereosternum tumidum Cope and Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis are found in limestones, reflecting a shallow water environment, while Mesosaurus brasiliensis, on the other hand, is found in shale bituminous leaflets that indicate deeper water.

 

So, the second is definitely a Mesosauridae of the specie: Stereosternum tumidum Cope.

 

I've seen hundreds of Stereosternum in person, but I've never seen any of them with this white mass skirting the bones:

 

 

I do not rule out a preparation with acid outside Brazil, because Brazil definitely has no habit of preparing fossils with acids:

 

 

 

 

This Stereosternum tumidum Cope left illegally from Brazil. It was discovered in one of the very quarries of the Perminano located in Assistance, region of Rio Claro, in Brazil:

 

 

 

But the problem is that in Brazil, the people believe that finding a single fragment of fossil is something very rare. And this lie is very convenient to uphold the law prohibiting the sale of fossils, so people do not know that thousands of tons of Stereosternum tumidum Cope fossils are crushed daily to turn raw material into cements:

 

 

 And to finish. Something that made me very intrigued, was the end of this bizarre tail in the form of a bone hammer:

 

 

 

 

But do not worry, it's nothing special, because it's just some other associated bone fossil! 

 

So my dear friend @HamptonsDoc ... I am very happy that this Stereosternum tumidum Cope is safe, far from Brazil, and that at least this specimen has not been crushed to become powder in the manufacture of cements, and that someone in another country will take good care of this beautiful fossil!

[Crazyhen]

The first one is Hyphalosaurus but I’m not sure it is a Hyphalosaurus lingyuanensis or H. baitaiguoensis as the skeleton is not preserved so well.   There seem to be minor restoration but otherwise it is a genuine specimen in my view.  Look at the one below for comparison.