RE: Juvy T.rex for sale

[Ken.Carpenter@dmns.org]

I agree with Scott that there is much reconstruction. This is definitely
a case of "Buyer beware!"

Kenneth Carpenter, Ph.D.
Curator of Lower Vertebrate Paleontology/
Chief Preparator
Department of Earth Sciences
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
2001 Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80205
 
Phone: 303-370-6392
Fax: 303-331-6492
************************************************************
for PDFs of some of my publications, as well as information of the Cedar
Mountain Project: 
https://scientists.dmns.org/sites/kencarpenter/default.aspx

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu] On Behalf
Of Williams, Scott
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 12:56 PM
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Juvy T.rex for sale

I took a look at the supposed Juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex skull pictures
posted on Ebay. 

1st off let me start by saying that I about fell over when I looked at
the starting bid.  2nd let me say, in my humble opinion much of this
skull looks reproduced (or horribly deformed).  For example the naris is
positioned in an odd location, dorsal/caudal to where it is located on
our Juvy T.rex specimen.  It makes me think that most of the premax is
reconstructed.  The bone texture itself seems suspect through most of
the maxilla; however this could be an artifact of the photograph.  I am
surprised that in the left lateral picture I see little or no suture
lines, which I think you should see on a true juvenile.  The lateral
picture of the anterior part of the premaxilla/maxilla connection,
details an incredibly large (compared to the maxillary teeth) 1st
premaxillary tooth that appears to lack a d-shape.  Is that supposed to
be the nasal or part of the nasal positioned dorsal to the skull, or
perhaps a vomer?  I also did not see any sort of scale bar in any of the
pictures. 

At any rate these are some of my 1st impressions which could be
explained by post-mortem deformation, bad photography, poor
reconstruction or outright fakery.  As I am in no means any sort of
expert, I would be interested to hear what Drs. Holtz, Carpenter, Carr
and others think about the scientific value of this specimen (aside from
the fact its on Ebay).  

Scott Williams
Burpee Museum



Kris wrote:

It's not my intention to promote this on the DML.... Instead, what we
have here is a perfect example of the current problem with fossil
dealers... It's the worst example I've seen on Ebay so far. My stomach
still feels like it's sinking... Maybe one of you associated with a
museum could snatch this up before it ends up on someone's mantle (if
it's real)...

Do a search on Ebay for "Tyrannosaurus rex skull".

Kris
http://hometown.aol.com/saurierlagen/Paleo-Photography.html