Budgie B Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I found this lower incisor from a larg extint kangaroo or wallaby yesterday! It was exposed after a good shower of rain washed it out of a small gully located in NSW.. West, no formation. I'm not sure of the Genus at this stage but I'm thinking ( Procoptodon )? As I have found (P-Goliah) and its jaws and upper molars here before. I have found three similar incisors before but this is the first time the complete root has been attached. As the photos show I have removed the very stubborn siltstone matrix to expose the nice root! My Question to TFF members is do you think I should repair the tooth where it is chipped on the end ? Or do you think it's better left like it is? I personally would like the challenge but I don't want to jeopardise the fossils authenticity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 First up, Awesome find, as usual And I wouldn't, no use faking it to make it look 'better' than it is already. I think it kind of ruins the fun. Thats just me, though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Nice find. I say never add what isnt there. If you have the part that came of it, sure, glue it back on. If it's not there, then leave it. "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 (edited) Also i don't think its proctoptodon. They had piddly little incisors. This is a P. goliah jaw. Notice the small size of the incisor (i know it's incomplete, but is far thinner the the one posted above). More likely a protemnodon Edited January 29, 2016 by Ash "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie B Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 Beautiful set of jaws Ash, and I think your right in your ID. Protemnodon was my second guess! And I know P.goliah had very small incisors compared to there big molars but given half my incisor would have been inside the jawbone, and the history of already finding Goliah in this location! well I went that way first. And thanks fort your opinion on the restoration! That goes for you too Dinoboy123, good call Also i don't think its proctoptodon. They had piddly little incisors. This is a P. goliah jaw. Notice the small size of the incisor (i know it's incomplete, but is far thinner the the one posted above). More likely a protemnodon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie B Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 Don't know what I did there! I should have pressed multiQuate instead of Quate! Sorry Ash, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Nice tooth, I would leave it alone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 You could make a tip out of PaleoSculpt, press it to the break of the fossil to form the union. Pull it away, let it harden, paint it, etc., but don't physically attach it (or do so with something like museum putty). Then you can have a nicer display item without altering the fossil. Just a thought if you were torn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie B Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 You could make a tip out of PaleoSculpt, press it to the break of the fossil to form the union. Pull it away, let it harden, paint it, etc., but don't physically attach it (or do so with something like museum putty). Then you can have a nicer display item without altering the fossil. Just a thought if you were torn. Now that's good old Lateral thinking!! And the type of answer I was looking for. As there's always more than one way to skin that old cat, thanks for your suggestion Peat Burns, you have me thinking now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
believerjoe Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I am just the type that thinks that the beauty is in what you found - the way it was found. Definitely would not alter it in any permanent way, but it has more character like this! of course all highly opinionated comments. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie B Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 Thanks everyone for your comments and much appreciated opinion, on this topic, I can see you all have a very high respect for our ancient fossils just as I do! And I definitely won't be attempting to alter them in any way! But given that I have a passion for creating things, I would like to one day make my own replica skulls and add the teeth and jaws that I have found without changing what nature has left behind in any way!! I do however have a lot to learn before I get to that point.. Budgie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooth_claw Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 You sure cleaned that one up nice Budgie B! I would not reconstruct the tooth, partly for authenticity but also because until you know exactly what it is (difficult from an incisor but maybe not impossible) you do not really know what the missing part looks like- a guess is false information. What you could do is take a photo/do a sketch, draw in the missing bit as best you can and display the tooth in a shadow box with the reconstructed drawing behind it- best of both worlds without changing the specimen. Or...find a line drawing of a skull/jaw from a likely suspect and mount the tooth in place on the picture. Or...cast the tooth and rebuild the copy so you have a 'before and after' specimen. Or...any number of other ideas that don't change the fossil but allow you to be creative. Feel free to steal ideas from museum displays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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