Daze Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 Just purchased this partial vertebra. It's described as a dorsal vertebra probably belonging to a Carcharodontosaurid or maybe an Abelisaurid. Location: Taouz, South Morocco Geological Formation: Ifezouane Fm Age: Upper Cretaceous, Cenomanian stage Size: 18cm I know it's probably hard to ID exactly since it's not complete, but any opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Noone? @Troodon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Spines are very difficult to diagnose since hardly any are published and a lot of the distinguishing characteristics are in the centrum. I'm more inclined to think this is Spinosaurid since it does not match the few Carcharodontosaurid verts published in South America. @LordTrilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Well it looks like an anterior caudal to start with. It does not match Abelisaurids. And I don't think it's a good fit with Carcharodontosaurids either. It seems to be most likely a Spinosaurid anterior caudal. Probably somewhere roughly around the fifth caudal. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Thanks a lot guys. Guess I will never know for sure, but I still think it's a great and esthetically nice piece. I love the shape of it and the state of preservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 I was wondering if the parts circled in red are original parts of the vertebra or pieces of debris/rock that are lodged in the vertebra? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 The bottom one definitely looks like something has lodged itself in the opening. The top one might just be remnants of an ligament attachment point or a rock since it's a different color. There is some matrix and tiny pebbles around it just try to clean it up a bit and see what it looks like. Be gentle on both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 (edited) Well, I removed as much matrix as I could and the piece of the bottom photo came loose. No idea what it is, it's rock hard but very light, kinda diamond shaped and on one side it appears to have tiny metal inclusions. I didn't manage to remove the other part yet. I have taken two photos of it, one with flash to show the details better. Edited February 10, 2023 by Daze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Photos are not resolving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 @Troodon Better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Okay Dont force the item out if there is no more matrix, might just be stuck, best to leave it there instead of damaging the spine. Looks like a couple of pebbles. Hey the other side looks good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 @TroodonThanks! Any idea what the piece is that came loose? I think it looks kinda interesting, especially with the metal inclusions? Or maybe someone else can ID it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 No idea what that is. You might try applying a little acetone to loosen the matrix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 1 hour ago, Daze said: @TroodonThanks! Any idea what the piece is that came loose? I think it looks kinda interesting, especially with the metal inclusions? Or maybe someone else can ID it? Could be a piece of fossilized palm wood. The metal would most likely be pyrite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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