[meteorite-list] Off Topic- Trilobite question

From: Charlie <moonrock25_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:41:11 2004
Message-ID: <12852-3A92513E-1085_at_storefull-134.iap.bryant.webtv.net>

Hello again Rob,

Just wanted to add a few more thoughts re Moroccan trilobites. Those
"mud bugs" you mentioned are Diacalymene sp. They are not
mineral-replaced fossils, but rather natural mold/cast fossils. Almost
never faked. Most of the Devonian Period trilobites have shells
naturally replaced by calcite. The most common ones seen at shows are
the big Phacops sp. bugs, averaging 5-6 inches long.
As with all the Devonian bugs, the natural color can be black (most of
the time), brown, a mixture of black/brown. It is not unheard of for
the Moroccans to create the Phacops sp. trilobites out of plaster, glue
them to the matrix, and then paint them over. BUT, the Moroccans cannot
fake skin TEXTURE. Restoration is perfectly acceptable, and most
trilobites have some degree of restoration. I avoid anything with more
than 10% restoration, but that's just my rule of thumb. One needs to
develop a practiced eye and discern the differences in skin texture
between genuine shell and restored shell. If you can find someone with
such an eye, it's not hard to do it yourself once you get the hang of
it. I believe Steve Hess's website, Extinctions.com has a page
dealing with how to detect fakes. It may be under their FAQ section.

Hope this helps,
-Charlie
Received on Tue 20 Feb 2001 06:13:02 AM PST