What kind of dino fossil do I have?

[sonomabarn67]

I bought these 30 years ago and kept them. There was a box full, some large fish 18 inches which I sold. Any thoughts? I was reading about the discovery of the Wulong bohaiensis and said to myself "Hey, I've got one that sort of looks like that. About 9".

 

 

 

[maxine*j]

All I can tell you is that it is not a dinosaur.  It's a lizard.  I have no idea if it's real or imitation.  It looks very similar to this one:

https://www.crystalinks.com/fossilizard.html

Many more here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=fossil+lizard&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOpbCA87jpAhWZlHI...

[sonomabarn67]

Thanks. I sold the others for pretty decent prices at ethno antique shows and everyone agreed they were real.

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

Contact the geology department at a local university and tell them what you have, send a picture or two. It should pique their interest, especially if you have/know the provenance for the fossils.

[argon38]

Just don't call National Geographic and ask if it's an Archaeoraptor...

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

Not into the fossil part of geology that much, but I think one thing can be said for sure about the species. It is a reptile, dino or lizard I won't debate, but if someone says not a reptile I will argue the point. (This is a clue as to why I mentioned earlier - talk to a geology department. I also mentioned provenance - where this came from - is very important IM amateur O). But as always I could be wrong. 😉

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

IMAO (in my amateur opinion) thinking about Wulong bohaiensis is leading you down the wrong path. But I could be wrong as always. 🙂

[Anonymous]

It's a baby Loch Ness Monster  (for marketing purposes only).

[argon38]

---

@c*me*4*lefton*info wrote:
Not into the fossil part of geology that much, but I think one thing can be said for sure about the species. It is a reptile, dino or lizard I won't debate, but if someone says not a reptile I will argue the point.

---

Oh yes, certainly - I'm sure Maxine got it spot-on with her lizard ID. My post was just for fun. (Archaeoraptor was the name given by National Geographic magazine to a sensational newly-discovered dinosaur-bird hybrid fossil back in 1999. It was unmasked as a fake shortly after publication, to the huge embarrassment of all concerned).

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

Not likely to be confused with -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteryx

[maxine*j]

---

@argon38 wrote:

---

I'm sure Maxine got it spot-on with her lizard ID.   My post was just for fun. (Archaeoraptor was ...  was unmasked as a fake shortly after publication...

---

The hips and hind legs are the giveaway that it's a lizard, rather than a dinosaur. 

I remember the Archaeoraptor, not the first hoax in palaeontology and surely not the last.  😒

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

Check out fossil marine reptiles, early ones, before they reached their later sometimes gargantuan size.

[maxine*j]

Worth checking out, of course.   If so, it would be a terrific find, since I'm pretty sure that the smallest ichthyosauriform found so far is well over a foot long and looks nothing like this.    It was found fairly recently, within the past 12 years or so.

( My late husband was a dedicated amateur paleontoligist, and had been since boyhood, and you can't live with one for 50 years without taking in this stuff by osmosis, even if one's own interest is slight. 😊 )

[maxine*j]

I should have looked for this before posting.   Here's info (fossil found in 2011, still the smallest so far as I can find):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartorhynchus

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

My initial advice remains unchanged. Take it (or photos of it) to a geology department and have the experts look at it.