Mosasauroid Jaw

[lexandc]

Hi guys, 

 

I have recently acquired this Mosasauroid partial jaw. Seller claimed it is a juvenile Mosasaur. He acknowledged that some of the teeth may have been reattached. But he didnt know which, he got it from his supplier like this. 

 

And upon further questioning, he also admited that he is not absolutely sure about the genus. He speculated juvenile Mosasaur due to its size, but i dont think a smaller genus of Mosasaur, like Halisaurus, Tethysaurus or Platecarpus, is out of the picture. 

 

Please help me identify the genus of this Mosasuroid and the location of this jaw (dentary or mandible, left or right). If you would be so kind, please also point out to me, which teeth are wrongly attached, or maybe, composite. (The 3 red arrows are the teeth that felt quite real) 

 

Thanks. 

 

Edit: Almost forgot, seller claimed it came from a Phosphate deposit at Khourigba, Morocco. 

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by lexandc
Typo

[Pemphix]

Looks a little bit glued together to me...teeth are not original for sure, imo.

Lot of resto to the "jaw" (?)....

@LordTrilobite may tell more.

[LordTrilobite]

Seem like mostly original bone. It seems like a bad repair job with some possible compositing on the bone from different jaws. The teeth are definitely suspect. I do not see a single tooth that looks original. All of them look placed as there is lots of junk fake matrix around them to hide the "repairs".

 

Proper cleaning might still reveal some original teeth though. But at the moment it looks pretty bad, sorry to say.

[lexandc]

6 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

Seem like mostly original bone. It seems like a bad repair job with some possible compositing on the bone from different jaws. The teeth are definitely suspect. I do not see a single tooth that looks original. All of them look placed as there is lots of junk fake matrix around them to hide the "repairs".

 

Proper cleaning might still reveal some original teeth though. But at the moment it looks pretty bad, sorry to say.

All of the teeth? Dang, i thought at least some of them were authentic. 

 

I thought at least anterior two third of the jaw looks natural, or at least from the same animal..The other posterior part is definitely too big. Some of the matrix looks terrible, i agree. The colour doesnt even match. 

 

So does that mean it is impossible to ID it? 

[JohnJ]

33 minutes ago, lexandc said:

 

So does that mean it is impossible to ID it? 

 

Given that there is a high probability some bone and all the teeth have been 'consolidated' into this 'specimen', then labeling with a genus is a useless exercise.  You have some real mosasaur teeth and mosasaur bone. You may want to view the end of the dentary under magnification to see if any of it was artificially shaped.

[lexandc]

4 hours ago, JohnJ said:

 

Given that there is a high probability some bone and all the teeth have been 'consolidated' into this 'specimen', then labeling with a genus is a useless exercise.  

That is true, and i agree, labeling a composite specimen is pointless.

 

I am trying to learn about Mosasauroid morphology. I am currently taking some online courses about marine reptiles paleontology. It is good to have at least some actual material to observe and learn from, even though it is composite. 

[JohnJ]

This is mandatory reading....   

 

Using the search function on TFF will also yield many examples of mosasaur material.   

[lexandc]

48 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

This is mandatory reading....   

 

Using the search function on TFF will also yield many examples of mosasaur material.   

Not exactly what i asked, but it is what i needed. Thank you 

[LordTrilobite]

1 hour ago, lexandc said:

That is true, and i agree, labeling a composite specimen is pointless.

 

I am trying to learn about Mosasauroid morphology. I am currently taking some online courses about marine reptiles paleontology. It is good to have at least some actual material to observe and learn from, even though it is composite. 

Well as I said before. Cleaning might still reveal some unexpected original teeth. In which case there might be a better chance for an ID.

[Bobby Rico]

My best advice is in the future is add a possible purchase to the “is it real “ section on the forum and get some advise and help before purchasing . Or as I call it try before you buy. Don’t just rely on the sellers descriptions      

 

All the best Bobby

[lexandc]

1 hour ago, Bobby Rico said:

My best advice is in the future is add a possible purchase to the “is it real “ section on the forum and get some advise and help before purchasing . Or as I call it try before you buy. Don’t just rely on the sellers descriptions      

 

All the best Bobby

Well, i was aware that it could be composite when i bought it. I just didnt know how bad. I thought most of it were authentic at that time. And the price was quite low, i couldn't resist. 

 

I should have controlled my impulse better and like you said, consulted at "is it real" section. 

[Randyw]

4 hours ago, lexandc said:

And the price was quite low,

If the price was low enough it may still have been a good deal. Remember you still have 11 teeth and some jaw sections. If it was mine I’d probably label it a composite sculpture of mosasaur and put it in my display or alternatively clean the matrix off and seperate into its individual parts and display