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Green River formation fish


Crazyhen

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They both look slightly different look at the spaces between the vertebrae I think?:)

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They look like replicas, to me.  The first two are nearly identical. 

 

Prisca1-A48-vert-vert.jpg

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    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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Tim's observation of "twinness" is enough to convince me the two shown are casts of a fossil Priscacara. The disarticulation of the vert column is often seen. However, it would be mostly impossible to end up with the same configuration on two pieces. At first glance, I was prepared to perhaps view the dark stain that extends beyond the fish's natural margin, as a carbon stain from soft tissue. I have prepped a Prisca whose abdomen "exploded" after death. It left an extensive carbon stain on the slab below the fish proper. These however, I am guessing, simply display paint. In hand with a 10X is the way to be certain.  That aside, given the unnatural similarity between the two, I would avoid them. If they are indeed casts, the question arises; why would anyone go to so much trouble? This critter is a fairly common find in the Green River Formation.

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Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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Although they are very similar, they have significant differences in detail.  As Will noted there are dislocations in the vertebral column in different places in the two specimens.  The vertebral column is shifted ventrally where it attaches to the skull, as Tim pointed out, but since the vertebrae are partially disarticulated this could be natural.  The dark body is too perfect given the fact that the skeletons had started to disarticulated; I agree with Snolly that paint may be involved.  As Snolly also pointed out these fish are common enough that they are not often replicated, I don't think I have seen an example of that being done.

 

Of course it is hard to judge from photos; an in-hand examination is always best.

 

Don

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I copied both images to my computer and zoomed into them. Aside from minor variations on how these were painted (and they were painted), they are bone-for-bone duplicates. Unless you believe in fish fossil doppelgänger, these are cast replicas. Seems odd that someone would go through the effort to fake this species as they are a reasonably common (but my no means the most common) species in the Green River Formation. I guess it would raise less suspicion to counterfeit $5 bills than $100's. 

 

Unless you were looking for some pretty artwork, I'd pass on these regardless of the price.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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47 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Although they are very similar, they have significant differences in detail.  As Will noted there are dislocations in the vertebral column in different places in the two specimens.  The vertebral column is shifted ventrally where it attaches to the skull, as Tim pointed out, but since the vertebrae are partially disarticulated this could be natural.  The dark body is too perfect given the fact that the skeletons had started to disarticulated; I agree with Snolly that paint may be involved.  As Snolly also pointed out these fish are common enough that they are not often replicated, I don't think I have seen an example of that being done.

 

Of course it is hard to judge from photos; an in-hand examination is always best.

 

Don

Don,

 

I noticed enough similarities to convince me they are nearly identical.

I reversed black and white, and circled the similarities I see on quick inspection:

 

Prisca1-A48-vert.jpg

 

There are enough slight differences between the two that might be explained by cast degradation from excessive use. 

 

 

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    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Indeed, I remain convinced they are the same. The apparent differences seen in the original posted images are the result of image scale, paint application variance, and lighting.  Ken and Tim's image manipulation to make them more compatible tell the tale. The mystery remains - why?

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Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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5 minutes ago, snolly50 said:

The mystery remains - why?

Why else? Practice. Can't do convincing fakes of something that is semi rare or just plain rare if you don't practice. Kind of like with prepping I suppose. Start with cheap throw away's before tackling the better stuff. Just my thought on it. :shrug:

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Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

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Probably cheaper to make copies of one, than to buy multiple fish to sell. 

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    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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5 hours ago, snolly50 said:

The mystery remains - why?

I may be wrong......

But the item is located in the Far East. Maybe easier to make a cast locally then import an original from the USA?

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector

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I have seen many specimens of this fish from the same seller who is in China.  As they look so perfect and similar. I begin to suspect that they are replicas massively produced in China.  I have no idea how much this relatively common fish from Green River Formation actually costs in the US, but it might be worthwhile to produce them massively for sale in China and get some profits.

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