New Members ezajac Posted June 20, 2016 New Members Share Posted June 20, 2016 Bought this at a small rocks and minerals shop in New Hampshire, was told it was a dinosaur tooth. Does it look real? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrieder79 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Can't get the images to enlarge. It is hard to say based on the thumbnails. Luck is the most important skill of a fossil diver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) It appears to be the tooth of a Mosasaur, a marine reptile - not a dinosaur. It has the look of Moroccan material and the tooth is most probably "real" - at least the crown, if not the root and matrix. These are just best guesses based on what can be seen in the small photos. I believe it is indeed the tooth of an ancient, fierce, predatory critter, enjoy. Edited June 20, 2016 by snolly50 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triceratops Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I agree with Snolly. A genuine Mosasaur tooth crown, possibly with a fabricated root and matrix. -Lyall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taogan Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Looks like a Moroccan Mosasaur tooth crown to me as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I believe it is indeed the tooth of an ancient, fierce, predatory critter, enjoy. You can't assume that... I understand that some mosasaurs were stage three vegans and did a lot of charity work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Untitled Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) I don't mean to be a naysayer or anything, but it is most likely repaired/ partially fabricated. My brother was given a mosasaur tooth in a matrix with a full "root". he wanted me to test its authenticity, so I placed it in warm water, and within minutes, everything crumbled apart; the 'matrix' was just compacted dirt basically, the 'root' was just molded dirt, and the 'tooth' was like 2-3 different fragments glued together. If you want to test its authenticity, place it in a bowl of warm water, and let it sit. If it doesn't become mush, its genuine, but if it does, then its a phony. If you do test it this way, however, you may wind up with something that is permanently ruined, so make sure you want to really take the risk before conducting the experiment. This is why I'm highly skeptical of Moroccan fossils, specifically mosasaur and otodus teeth. Edited June 20, 2016 by Untitled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) You can't assume that... I understand that some mosasaurs were stage three vegans and did a lot of charity work. My apologies, I did not mean to malign the many, many Mosasaurs; who were fine, productive, peace-loving citizens. Edited June 20, 2016 by snolly50 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I don't mean to be a naysayer or anything, but it is most likely repaired/ partially fabricated. My brother was given a mosasaur tooth in a matrix with a full "root". he wanted me to test its authenticity, so I placed it in warm water, and within minutes, everything crumbled apart; the 'matrix' was just compacted dirt basically, the 'root' was just molded dirt, and the 'tooth' was like 2-3 different fragments glued together. If you want to test its authenticity, place it in a bowl of warm water, and let it sit. If it doesn't become mush, its genuine, but if it does, then its a phony. If you do test it this way, however, you may wind up with something that is permanently ruined, so make sure you want to really take the risk before conducting the experiment. This is why I'm highly skeptical of Moroccan fossils, specifically mosasaur and otodus teeth. Genuine pieces of matrix also sometimes disintergrate into mush. So that is is not a conclusive test. That being said. This piece looks suspect. Likely only the tooth crown is real. And yes, a mosasaur tooth. Not that of a dinosaur. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Untitled Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Genuine pieces of matrix also sometimes disintergrate into mush. So that is is not a conclusive test. That being said. This piece looks suspect. Likely only the tooth crown is real. And yes, a mosasaur tooth. Not that of a dinosaur. This is true, but when I tested this way, the root disintegrated, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 (edited) Well yes, the real bones will not disintegrate. It's mostly just the martix.The bones can get brittle though. Edited June 22, 2016 by LordTrilobite Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts