Abstraktum Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Hello everybody So this fossil here bothers me for some time now because I'm still not sure what to make of it. I'm especially asking for the roots in the jaw and if they are a composite. Also this one tooth growing out of the root of the root looks odd to me. Is this a genuine fossil or are these roots / tooth put in the jaw? I'm used to these fake teeth put on jaws as a composite form Morocco but with this one I'm still not sure what am I looking at. On one side you can actually see the root in the jaw. Would something like this be fabricated as well? And is the ID correct? It's described as a partial maxillary of an Elosuchus sp. from the Ifezouane Formation, KemKem from Taouz/Morocco. No word about any restoration/fabrication or what so ever. Size is 3.48 in (8,84 cm). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 My vote is that it's real. Moroccans would not composite roots and the end one with the exposed root looks very natural. Given the size not sure you can ID it to a specific croc. The visible crown is a replacement tooth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 A replacement tooth inside the other tooth? Is that normal for crocs? I actually don't know. Otherwise this looks completely real. At that size Elosuchus seems probable, but I wouldn't completely rule out other crocs. Looks like a good piece. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 3 minutes ago, LordTrilobite said: A replacement tooth inside the other tooth? Is that normal for crocs? Yes it is. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abstraktum Posted August 19, 2019 Author Share Posted August 19, 2019 Thx everybody for their opinion. And especially thx @Randyw. I had the same question in my mind as @LordTrilobite. I wasn't sure if a replacement tooth actually grows out of the root of the old one. I decided to go for this jaw as it's for a reasonable price for me. I will post some pictures for comparison once I will get it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 On 8/18/2019 at 6:27 PM, Abstraktum said: I'm just noticing this now... But there are some very clear gnaw marks on the right side in this photo. A series of parallel grooves. They appear to be in pairs as well. That's pretty cool. They seem to be of fairly decent size as well. Gnaw marks appear on some Kem Kem fossils. But I've only seen such good ones a few times. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abstraktum Posted August 19, 2019 Author Share Posted August 19, 2019 1 hour ago, LordTrilobite said: I'm just noticing this now... But there are some very clear gnaw marks on the right side in this photo. A series of parallel grooves. They appear to be in pairs as well. That's pretty cool. They seem to be of fairly decent size as well. Gnaw marks appear on some Kem Kem fossils. But I've only seen such good ones a few times. Thats actually something I wasn't aware of. But sounds very interesting To be honest I'm not 100 % sure which marks you mean. Are you talking about these here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 Yes, those. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haravex Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 Late to this, looks very real to me wouldn't like to put an ID on it but Elosuchus is a possibility. It's a very nice piece looks to have come from Begga mines or Ouzina (more than likely the first however) if you do buy it I would highly recommend a solution of paraloid and acetone as there is a hydration crack through the middle of the jaw section which could get worse over time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abstraktum Posted August 20, 2019 Author Share Posted August 20, 2019 Thx for the input! Glad to see everybody is on the same page Yes I decided to bought it. It's right now on the way to me. Should be with me until the end of the week as it is shipped from within the EU. I didn't work with Paraloid until now, but I think this a very good time to start. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abstraktum Posted August 22, 2019 Author Share Posted August 22, 2019 So the jaw arrived today It's really beautiful. I only did a few pictures, as the pictures in my first post really do it justice. I didn't find any glue or restored parts on it. I started to carefully brush away all the sand. The sand goes super easy off, it wasn't glued there. There is already a big pile of sand that got off the jaw. Mostly from the holes across the jaw. It goes really really easily off. No force needed. I'm really happy I got my hands on it. I don't see much "untouched" (as in enhanced, fabricated) jaws from KemKem. Just one thing wasn't visible on the pictures above. These two holes. Not sure whats the origin of these holes. But one whole gues actually all the way up to the root. I'm still not finished cleaning it. There is still some work to do. Also will work with Paraloid and Acetone as @Haravex recommended. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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