Fake Chinese fossils

[thetyrantlizard]

Apparently I am not the only one who thinks most of the recent Chinese fossil finds are fake. Here is a note by an ebay member named humboltsquid:

reviews.ebay.ca/More-on-fake-Chinese-fossils_W0QQugidZ10000000001008417

By the way, it is illegal to export any fossil from China -- not that such prohibition has had any effect on the proliferation in the West. But really, how surprising is it that the country that gave us fake DVDs, fake Rolex watches, fake Gucci bags, fake electronics, fake Polo t-shirts, fake "Ming" vases, and genuine Hasbrosaurs , should now give us fake sabre tooth tiger skulls? Mark my words--the time is soon coming when most, if not all, of the 'feathered dinosaur' 'finds' so widely broadcast in the media and seriously discussed in dinosaur books and paleontology journals will be exposed as frauds and hoaxes. This will be the most embarrassing scandal to hit palaeontology since Piltdown Man. Archaeoraptor is just the beginning.

Here is another guide by a paleontologist. Note that he/she specifically names Liaoning, home of ALL the allegedly 'feathered' 'dinosaurs' that have ever been discovered, as the source of most of the fakes.

reviews.ebay.ca/Buying-Fossils-Law-Ethics-amp-Forgeries_W0QQugidZ10000000001926697

Note that many of the 'feather' impressions on, say, beipiaosaurus, are merely scratches that can easily be made by anybody with experience in calligraphy. And even the paleontologist is wrong. CT scans CANNOT distinguish a fake dino from a real one if the forger is smart enough to use material from the same block or slab of rock! (And I know from personal experience that the accuracy of CT scans is grossly overestimated.) Remember that archaeoraptor was actually X-rayed and UVed, and it still fooled Philip Currie.

[giganotoigauana]

thetyrantlizard said:

Apparently I am not the only one who thinks most of the recent Chinese fossil finds are fake. Here is a note by an ebay member named humboltsquid:

reviews.ebay.ca/More-on-fake-Chinese-fossils_W0QQugidZ10000000001008417

By the way, it is illegal to export any fossil from China -- not that such prohibition has had any effect on the proliferation in the West. But really, how surprising is it that the country that gave us fake DVDs, fake Rolex watches, fake Gucci bags, fake electronics, fake Polo t-shirts, fake "Ming" vases, and genuine Hasbrosaurs , should now give us fake sabre tooth tiger skulls? Mark my words--the time is soon coming when most, if not all, of the 'feathered dinosaur' 'finds' so widely broadcast in the media and seriously discussed in dinosaur books and paleontology journals will be exposed as frauds and hoaxes. This will be the most embarrassing scandal to hit palaeontology since Piltdown Man. Archaeoraptor is just the beginning.

Here is another guide by a paleontologist. Note that he/she specifically names Liaoning, home of ALL the allegedly 'feathered' 'dinosaurs' that have ever been discovered, as the source of most of the fakes.

reviews.ebay.ca/Buying-Fossils-Law-Ethics-amp-Forgeries_W0QQugidZ10000000001926697

Note that many of the 'feather' impressions on, say, beipiaosaurus, are merely scratches that can easily be made by anybody with experience in calligraphy. And even the paleontologist is wrong. CT scans CANNOT distinguish a fake dino from a real one if the forger is smart enough to use material from the same block or slab of rock! (And I know from personal experience that the accuracy of CT scans is grossly overestimated.) Remember that archaeoraptor was actually X-rayed and UVed, and it still fooled Philip Currie.

very interesting...considering im a small private collector ...i cant tell you how many times ive seen those fake saber tooth cats ...at least a couple hundred.

[thetyrantlizard]

Unfortunately I can't tell the difference between a fake fossil and a real one, so I stick to dinosaur toys ;D

[thetyrantlizard]

Here's another Liaoningosaur--on eBay no less.

cgi.ebay.com/RARE-reptiles-cretaceous-MICRORAPTOR-fossil-100-Authen_W0QQitemZ230077098455QQihZ013QQcategoryZ15915QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



I don't have experience handling actual fossils to determine whether this is 100% authentic or not, as the seller claims. Some indisputable observations though:

1. It is ILLEGAL to export ANY fossil from China, period. The only exception seems to be a certain type of fossil fish. Why eBay tolerates this is a matter of speculation--actually, I know why they tolerate it, the final value fees on the $7000 fossil must be stupendous.

2. There is (at least according to wikipedia, so this can't be taken as gospel truth) one species of microraptor, of which there are only 6 skeletons. The thought that paleontologists must have missed one is quite unlikely.

If this is real, therefore, it is immoral and illegal to purchase it. If, as I suspect, it is a fake, then the accusation that somewhere in Liaoning there is a factory mass-producing feathered dinosaurs can no longer be doubted.